Arcanum
by DashAway
Summary: This is the story of six people brought together in one arcade. Axel and Riku, the arcade masters, Roxas and Sora, the newbies, Xigbar, the employee, and Demyx, searching for a job. AU. [AR][SR][XD]
1. The King and the Prince

**Alright kiddies, this is the first chaptered Kingdom Hearts fic I've ever attempted. Thus, if it SUCKS, please put me out of my misery. Thanks. **

**I would suggest having at least minimal knowledge of an arcade DDR machine and how it works before you read this, because you may get a bit confused otherwise. If you do possess this knowledge, forgive me for insulting your intelligence. :x**

**Pairings to look for: Soriku, Akuroku, and…Demyx with Xigbar (no cute name for it yet!), and maybe a few more along the way, depending on which characters show up. :D **

**Enjoy! **

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_Bling, chink, bling bling, clop, rollrollroll, clomp. _"Shit!"

"Hey, man, you gotta relax. Every time the ball goes there you freak out and totally bomb the game." The boy playing the pinball machine knew that he was about to get an educational lecture, but this was one time when he both wanted and needed one. Axel was right; he did freak out when the ball slid down there. A hand much tanner than his covered him with its palm, slightly cool, showing him how to make a slight groove. "See? The second the ball hits the blue, do this. The table'll tip and the thing will go right back out where you want it."

The knowing friend smiled easily, sliding another coin into the machine with the tip of his finger. He backed away, watching his 'apprentice' expectantly.

The game lasted about a minute before the ball rolled straight towards the dreaded blue lane, right on schedule. He saw Riku tense at the controls, but, as usual, the boy pulled through and gently rotated on the button, flipping the ball back into glorious free space.

"You were right, Axel. As usual."

"Don't sound so glum about it," Axel replied, running a hand haughtily through fire engine red hair. "If I'm the king, you're the prince. We're the only royal ones in here." Riku, eyes still on his newly progressing game, blew a stand of silver from his face, a gesture Axel saw in the pinball machine's glossy reflection. The older boy grinned and patted his friend on the shoulder. "I'm hungry; I'm going to get some pizza." The food court offered a variety of foods, but Axel never seemed to want anything but pizza. Axel probably tasted like pizza, too, if anyone was ever cannibalistic enough to sample a bit.

As the tall boy walked away, Riku thought to himself, _The king and the prince. What a dork. _But he really did find the idea amusing. For months Axel had been commonly called the king, but Riku'd never considered himself in that equation. Even though he'd gotten there first, he wasn't bitter that Axel had gotten his bearings so quickly. Some people were just born to play games.

The arcade was their life. Almost every day one or the both of them came, Axel more often than Riku, to drown out the dull details of their lives. They were well-known in the area, too. If either of them didn't show up for more than three days, someone would probably send out a search party—that's how important Arcanum was to them. Arcanum was the arcade's name, located in Skyscraper Mall, which, unlike most malls, was taller than it was long, earning its name.

Riku had mostly played console games. He only started coming here a year ago, after he got a job and had money in his pockets to pilfer away. His family hated him for it. While other teenagers were dating and driving cars, Riku was staring at a screen. He had tons of friends and admirers, despite his religious gaming habits, mostly because of his good looks. Axel was the only one he was true to; everyone else saw the specialty Riku Mask, one crafted from isolation and the effect of having people like you only because you're attractive. But they didn't expect anything unfair of him, which was good. As long as he was there to make an impression or pretend to be someone's boyfriend, people liked him.

Axel was different. People, girls and guys alike, followed him because not only was he good-looking but his entire existence was fascinating. He was smart but agreeable, non-threatening, and crazy. It only took one look for people to drop what they were doing and waft after him.

Ever since he'd first been old enough to comprehend arcade games, Axel frequented. But he'd only just moved here a year ago, making friends with Riku, and thus dragging the silver-haired boy along with him. The move took away at least a whole week of gaming, and Axel was almost livid with tension. Riku followed for fear of being killed.

But it was clear—Axel's purpose in life was to play arcade games. To Riku, they weren't as fun as console games, but they were a challenge. Axel insisted he begin to play. It seemed that the older teen really did get lonely easily and would refuse to go anywhere without a friend, and if Riku was going to be tagging along anyway, he might as well pick up the trade.

Arcanum was cozy, with colourful red, blue, and green flooring with crazy patterns and painted walls. Graffiti artists had been hand-picked to paint the walls here, and they did a great job. The arcade was deep and T-shaped, branching out. Games lined every inch of wall they could and were arranged in easily maneuverable ways in the centre of the walkway. The service counter was at the back wall, visible to mall patrons if they squinted through the games' bright lights enough.

The front of the arcade was lit up with rows of flashing, blinking bulbs in blue and green. The trapezoidal sign announced in cheerful neon **Arcanum**, with two stars above it.

The first time Axel had ever seen it, he went starry-eyed, raving about how much better it was than the one in that backwater mall he used to visit. That day, Riku gained a new appreciation for the arcade; he'd never given it a second look.

"Damnit," Riku cursed, pounding a fist firmly on the machine. At least it hadn't been the damned blue lane this time; he'd been daydreaming again. The lights were supposed to catch people's attention, but Riku thought he must be hopelessly ADD.

Well, that was enough pinball for today. Time to unwind. At the right end of the T was his precious machine, Dance Dance Revolution. The one game in the entire arcade he was better at than Axel. That was mostly because Axel would miss a step and slip out a string of curses, startling younger kids, and lose interest in the rest of the song.

Those who passed through occasionally offered Riku some challenge at the game, but it was just no fun to be the best at a game usually played with others. Axel was the arcade _king_. What kind of king couldn't play DDR?

As he was inserting his four tokens, Axel's flaming hair caught his eye. "Back already?"

"Mhm," Axel muttered out, mouth stuffed with pizza. There was a bit of sauce on his chin, which Riku wiped away with a sigh.

"You didn't bring any for me, did you?"

"Mnm."

"Thought so, ho bag." Axel's eyes narrowed.

"Hph!" he cried, and then swallowed. "Hey! You never said you wanted any."

"Nope." It was a bad idea to dance on a full stomach anyway.

Axel glared at the machine angrily. After a few seconds of an engaged staring contest with something that had no eyes, he huffed.

"What?" Riku chided, choosing a song. He needed something cheery and sickeningly upbeat. _Love Love Sugar_ would take care of that. "It's not like it's ever personally offended you."

"Sure has," the redhead objected. "It exists in my arcade."

"It isn't _your_ arcade," the younger boy pointed out before getting in position. Axel nearly gagged as the screen went pink and a cutesy Japanese voice invited them to "Jump! Jump! Jump!" When candy started pouring down the screen Axel left, crinkling his pizza's wax wrapping.

"You'd better not throw that on the floor, deadbeat," the employee warned. Axel, unfazed, smiled charmingly and replied, "You shouldn't be so mean to your best customer."

"Get a life, kid."

"You spend just as much time here as I do and you're older than me," Axel pointed out.

"…Touché," the employee finally said.

"And those uniforms are awful. And you're missing an eye."

"Oh my gosh, I didn't even notice!" the man at the counter spazzed sarcastically. Axel also wanted to point out how lumpy the employee shirt looked and that the guy's hair was also grey in odd places, but the games called. This was a waste of time. He blew the man a kiss and bounced off.

Now, Xigbar wasn't exactly thrilled to be working in an arcade in the first place, but it was cocky kids, namely Axel and Riku, that made it worse. Sure, Riku was good at DDR (as evidenced by the fact that he hadn't missed a single arrow on his song so far) and a host of other games, and Axel played the machines like an expert violinist, so they had a reason for the ego, but…

He sighed. Being up front put him in the public view, so he had to interact with more than a few people who gaped openly at his eye patch and scar, and a few parents had left complaints, but Xigbar's boss didn't often listen to logic. This is a nice way to say the boss was flipping crazy. He'd inherited Arcanum and never wanted it, and panicked easily. Xigbar had it handled, though. His strength was keeping people in check and staying in control, even if he had to threaten to remove his eye patch to do so. Either way, Xigbar was paid to stand at the counter, count tickets, distribute prizes, and work the laser tag room in the back. Besides, Arcanum grew on him. At least he wasn't flipping burgers or trapped in a cubicle. And he was the main employee, so he got paid often.

But the lumpy navy blue uniform shirt had to go.

Riku was getting into his game now, choosing a more difficult song (difficult as in suicidal), _Tsugaru_, leaning against the arm post and letting his feet do the work. Axel was manipulating a small wheel as though he was having a love affair with it. He almost missed the two newcomers: an attractive blond with a brunet in tow who could have been his twin. The spinning wheel died pathetically as he abandoned it and turned to watch the new boys.

Today just got a whole lot better.

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**Lots of love love sugar for anyone who reviews! And brownie points to you for making it all the way down here (unless you cheated, in which case I will now Sora!pout and make you feel guilty). **

**If you see any errors (like the wrong words used and such) let me know! Thanks. :D **


	2. Mind Rape and Zombies

**Here we are already, chapter two! I hope it satisfies all your needs, even the kinky ones! XD**

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of this crap; it belongs to Squeenix and Tetsuya Nomura. Why are disclaimers needed anyway? It's safe to assume no one writing fanfiction actually _owns _any rights to this stuff. –shrug- **

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"Let's try this one!"

"No way. That thing ate my money once."

"Well, yeah…but it's probably fixed now!" Roxas took one look at the employee at the counter and sniggered.

"Doubt it."

"You're no fun at all. You go ahead and mope around; I'm gonna find something to do."

"You do that," Roxas replied blandly, observing a row of games. _You're the one who followed me here. _Sora's pout was brief, because he was too excited to be here to be dragged down by Roxas's typical moodiness.

The brown-haired boy looked around, arms swinging a bit. There were a few kids crowded by the Stomp-a-Spider game, raving about it. Sora glanced at a redhead near the entrance, but the other male turned away before Sora could get a good look. He became suddenly aware of a loud clacking sound and followed it to where a boy who looked a little older than him was playing a game called Dance Dance Revolution. _I've heard of that, _Sora mused. _Some of those guys are really good at it. Like him! _The boy on the machine was tall and slender with more muscles than Sora could ever hope to have, wearing a bright blue tank top and khaki shorts. Long silver hair was ruffled and mussed from the intense dancing. His feet a blur on the arrow panels, he didn't even notice that Sora was dangerously close and watching intently, leaning on the arm post that wasn't in use.

The arrows were making him dizzy, but his awe of the amazing dancing lad cancelled out the feeling. When the song ended (some techno beat) the silver-haired teenager slouched against the arm rail, panting. He nearly jumped into the air when someone said "You're really good!" loudly and enthusiastically.

The offender, Riku saw, was a slight boy with gravity-defying brown hair and big sapphire eyes that matched his blue shirt, which was covered by a loose burgundy button-up. Knobby little knees peeked from beneath black shorts.

"Oh, thanks." Riku clutched at his heart, hoping it was still beating. You should never scare someone that tired.

"I wish I could do that," the blue-eyed boy said wistfully.

"Do you play at all?" When the brunet shook his head, Riku's eyes went comically round. "Are you serious?"

"Yup!"

"Do you wanna try? I have one more song on this round. We can put you on a lighter setting…" Riku barely finished before the boy hopped up onto the right platform.

"Let's do it!"

_Cocky little twerp. _Well, just because he was good at it, it didn't give him a right to be mean to people who weren't, right? Besides, this little brunet was kind of cute. "Okay. It costs four quarters or tokens, whichever you've got."

"Roxas gave me tokens when we came in."

"Roxas?"

"My best friend!" Sora pointed at said blond friend, who was looking doubtfully at a piece of chewing gum someone had stuck to the wall. "Oh, and I'm Sora." He held out a hand.

"Riku." They shook. Sora dropped in his tokens and they decided Riku should pick the song (an easy one), considering Sora knew almost nothing about the game other than that people looked really cool playing it. He chose a song called _Peace Out, _which was actually very relaxing even on the heaviest mode. The song started, and Sora was confident. Unfortunately that confidence wasn't to last.

Roxas frowned when he saw his friend goofing off with some silver-haired punk, though he was glad at least one of them was having fun. This place used to be great, back when he was in middle school. They'd only come because Sora suggested it. Roxas hadn't been here in a year or so, and mentioned how great it was once upon a time, and for a lack of anything better to do they came. He'd rather be here than bored at home. The games he passed looked unappealing. If it wasn't some sports junk it was games of luck (which were rigged so unfairly that even the creators of the game themselves probably couldn't win anything), or a dumb deer hunting game. Who the hell would put a deer hunting game in an arcade? How many people, honestly, share that kind of passion?

A flash of something caught his eye: the bright red hair of someone playing at the machine behind him. When he turned fully to face this person they were already staring at him with intense green eyes. Roxas shrugged it off. _Creep. _He continued the search for a good machine, a 'good' machine being either Tekken or…

"House of the Dead!" Said game was looking quite lonely. The opening screen seemed to be burned into the monitor, because faded black remnants of the words remained when he put his token into the slot, pushed Player 1's button, and picked up the plastic blue gun. Quickly he looked back where the redhead had been, but he wasn't there anymore.

Three or four minutes into the game, Roxas was thoroughly enjoying himself. The graphics were terrible and the monsters were generic, at best, but it wasn't wholly challenging or too easy. It was just good, mindless fun.

All of a sudden a slight shadow cast itself against the game's screen; someone was moving behind him. Roxas didn't raise his eyes from the game, but he tensed, his concentration broke, and he lost a life. _Continue? 10…9…8… _

He hastily shoved another coin in and slammed the button. A sudden voice near his ear startled him, and once again one of the ugly, rotting zombies threw a barrel and smacked his character in the head.

"Any idiot can play House of the Dead," the sultry voice said.

"Screw off," Roxas gritted out, not bothering to look at his 'attacker'. The voice didn't seem to mind the retort, chuckling as he slid up next to Roxas.

"Mind if I play too?"

"Only if it won't waste your precious time."

"Ooh," the voice purred. _We've got a live one, here. _Regardless, the stranger put his coins into the game and picked up the other gun. Roxas had to admit that they made a good team, and neither of them lost another life for quite some time. A short cutscene offered the opportunity to look at the stranger. Any kind of hostility Roxas held towards this man evaporated as he got a good look at him.

Flaming red hair, as wild as a lion's mane, shot out of his head. There were two teardrop-shaped tattoos beneath his eyes (how utterly tragic) and his anorexically thin upper body was covered by an emerald green ribbed tank that showed off slightly tan and muscled arms, and more than a little shoulder skin. When the redhead faced him, the same bright green eyes from before glinted, matching the teen's smirk flawlessly. Those eyes looked predatory and Roxas gulped, embarrassed that he was being stared at like a fresh cut of meat.

The eyes he was so enraptured with darted to the right, back to the game. _Oh, right._ Then it was back to shooting at zombies. When they finally finished the game (something the blond would never have done alone) Roxas tried to leave, but a firm hand on his wrist stopped him dead in his tracks. There were those green eyes again, raping him.

"What's your name, blondie?"

"Roxas," said boy answered between furrowed brows. He wrestled his hand from the thin man's grip. "Who are you and what do you want?"

"I'm Axel." He waited for Roxas to nod before continuing. "And what I want is nothing. I'm just interested in people I've never seen in here before."

"Ha," Roxas said, tone suggesting he found it as funny as old Aquaman cartoons (which are more pathetic than anything).

"What's so 'funny'?" Axel asked, eyebrow rising. His hips, clothed in black jeans, leaned against the machine.

"It almost looked like you expected me to believe that."

"I'm not a bad guy, Roxy," he bit back with a pout.

"For calling me that, you are."

"Sorry you're so sensitive about it." Axel honestly looked a bit sorry. He rubbed the back of his head before pointing up into the air. "Want me to make it up to you?"

"I'm not offended enough to have something made up to me." Roxas's eyes narrowed. He did like Axel; the older teen was interesting, to say the least. He just wasn't so keen on the idea of being date raped or something by him. But Axel _was_ tying to be nice…

Still, Roxas backed up a step when Axel leaned forward and said, "Do I have to offend you more, then?" Roxas gulped.

Meanwhile, Sora was on his fifth go at DDR and not doing any better. He was even doing the same song.

"You're trying too hard," Riku laughed, leaning casually against the wall next to the machine. The bathrooms were on the other side, the water fountain conveniently placed between them so dancers could get a sip of water between songs. The machines made you wait forty-five seconds between songs anyway, so kids' hearts wouldn't explode while they were playing.

So far he'd kept his nose out of it, but watching newbies fail at something you're wonderful at is a painful experience. The author is sure some of her readers know what she's talking about. Heh.

Sora's giant shoe kicked at the machine. His face was flushed bright as a tomato and there was a pretty pattern of hair slicked to his forehead. Riku chuckled openly at it. "Give it up, kid."

"Hey, you're not that much older than me," Sora pointed out. "Just cuz I can't play this game…" Suddenly his bright blue eyes lit up. "You could teach me, couldn't you? You're great at it, you know what you're doing!" He seemed so happy it was almost sad that Riku had to turn him down. Almost.

"Sorry, but I'm not interested. I have better things to do than teach someone DDR." _Even if that someone has really pretty eyes. And a cute ass, _Riku noticed.

"Better things like what? You probably spend a ton of time here. It's not like you'd be going out of your way! And you just have to teach me the basics, and you'll still get to play!" Sora made a convincing argument, but Riku wasn't up for it. It was why he'd never become a teacher; working with children was too frustrating. They just didn't understand _anything. _

"Unless you can show me you're serious about learning this, and that it won't just be a passing thing, I'll consider it." No way was he teaching his beloved arts to someone who wouldn't appreciate them. Sora accepted defeat.

"Alright…" He clomped off, his mind buzzing with so many thoughts, namely: _how do I prove I'm serious? _This problem was so worrying he completely forgot about his burgundy button-up, which was slouched over the nearby air hockey table, abandoned. Riku glanced at it before picking it up. He didn't even try to bite back the urge to smell it. Hmm. It smelled really good, like Zest body wash and sweat, but clean sweat, not like big fat guy sweat. He figured he'd better return this.

Roxas stared dumbly at the piece of paper in his hands. Axel was gone, but his number was right here, scrawled in pen. Suddenly, for the second time that day, someone's hand grabbed him and he jerked out of his thoughts.

"Let's go, Roxas."

"You're ready to go already?" Sora didn't reply, so Roxas thought it was best to follow him, folding Axel's number and neatly putting it into his pocket.

_You give me a call if you ever wanna do something. _

Riku ran out into the wider area of the arcade, scanning for a spiky brown head, but Sora had already left. Well. Now Riku had an excuse to see him again.

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**Sorry we didn't see any of Xiggy in this chapter, but his chance will come!**

**A great big peace out to anyone who reviews! **


	3. Saving you money, one machine at a time

**You're probably all wondering why these updates have been coming so fast. The thing is, I'm being brutally raped by plotbunnies every single night. I have a notebook already scrawled all over with dumb little ideas for this fic. I love it already. It's the first time in ages inspiration has struck! KABOOM. Just like that.**

**:D Usual silly disclaimers apply. Xigbar gets his chance in this chappie, just like I promised! –nodnod- **

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The old couch groaned, and Roxas almost wanted to do the same thing. Sora had been pacing the floor for an unsettling amount of time, barely speaking after dragging them out of the mall.

"What happened, Sora?" he asked for the Nth time, not expecting an answer and being surprised when he actually got one.

"I have to prove something to someone."

"Mm. Something like…what? Was it that silver-haired kid in the arcade?" Sora's nod gave him that answer. Sora stopped pacing and looked at his friend, who was lounging on the couch with his arms behind his head.

"Do you know how to play DDR?"

"Duh, you know I do. I've only told you a million times how much I wish I had a PlayStation so I could play at home."

Sora pursed his lips and asked, "Why didn't you play when we went to the arcade, then?" Good question. Oh, right. That redhead, Axel, distracted him. But he wasn't about to tell Sora about that.

"Because you and that guy were playing, remember? It was the first thing you went for. Why, do you wanna play?" Roxas knew very well that Sora, even as coordinated as he was, couldn't play DDR for the life of him.

"Yeah. And I asked that guy to teach me. His name's Riku and he's great at it…" He sighed. "I wish I could play like that."

"Well? Did he say he would teach you?" The brunet thumped down to the couch beside him and shut his eyes.

"No. He said I had to prove I was worth teaching." Roxas supposed it was for the best that Sora never considered asking _Roxas_ to help train him, though there were two points about that. One, Roxas wouldn't have said yes either, and two, Sora was obviously hung up on this Riku, a fact the blond was eager to find out more about. "How will I do that, Roxas?"

In reply, Roxas yawned. A sharp pain lit his leg when Sora hit him.

"You're not good for anything."

"Au contraire, my friend," the blond mumbled, putting a hand in the air. "I am good for _most_ things. But I dunno how to impress guys, especially really _gorgeous _guys like _Riku_." Not surprisingly, Sora huffed and decked him again, and soon they were having a full-out war over Roxas's coffee table (well, his _parents_' coffee table), laughing.

These two were the best friends since birth type. They'd gone to the same schools, same classes, same everything. They lived on the same street, their parents all got along wonderfully, and there was always just something _right _about Sora and Roxas being best friends, like they didn't even have a choice in the matter, though they couldn't find room to complain.

Sora was usually at Roxas's house, mostly because Roxas's parents were a lot wealthier than Sora's and Roxas had the coolest stuff. And Sora's house was a little small. Any room these two were put in must meet certain standards, lest the two tear the walls down. They were liable to get crazy like that.

Later, breathless and sprawled on the clean carpet (Roxas owned no pets and his parents were very meticulous), Sora still had no idea how one was supposed to prove they wanted to learn something.

When he finally had an idea, it was too late to make it back to Arcanum, but tomorrow was going to be a brighter day. He only hoped Riku would be there when he got back.

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Xigbar hated cleaning the bathrooms. Then again, everyone hates cleaning bathrooms. But he felt like he should be quite pitied at this moment. It was bad enough that there were only two of them on shift that day (the other person being Tidbit, or Tim, or Tidus, or something, who wasn't very competent and was only working there for the summer, mercifully) but Arcanum was packed and Xigbar didn't like being away from the counter for very long. And for a good reason too; two bratty-looking youngsters were trying to sneak behind the counter and steal candy, but Xigbar looked up from the cleaning cart just in time to see them. He tore off a paper towel from the cart, wadded it up, and hurled it at them. Hardly customer appreciation.

The kids squealed and ran away as Xiggy bellowed out, "I never miss twice!" It was an untrue threat; his depth-perception was a bit off and it had nothing to do with his missing eye.

…Well, that was a lie too.

He was already on edge because of all the people, but there was a job applicant coming today, who would eventually replace the boy whose named started with a 'T', as said boy was leaving on a long vacation. Xigbar wanted a vacation. Pout.

The boss was coming later too, hopefully to interview the maybe-employee, but Xemnas tended to 'conveniently' miss important things.

Ah, and here he was now.

Striding through the back door (ooh, the sacred back door), Xemnas looked particularly psychotic today. He was the type of person to try and look distinguished as possible, even going to the length of dying his hair grey prematurely. Its former platinum blond hue made the grey look silvery though, and you would quicker think he was a mutant than a gentleman. That, and the weird amber colour of his eyes (was that even natural?) plus deeply tanned skin was a recipe for…something nasty-tasting. However, Xemnas _was _smart; Xigbar gave him at least that.

"Hello, Zeke," Xemnas greeted amiably. Xigbar was used to his name being mutilated and saved the fight.

"Hey boss. What's going on?"

"Nothing, just came to observe the place, make sure it's all going smoothly." A raised grey eyebrow (oh gods, he dyed his eyebrows too?) was aimed at Xigbar. "It _is _going smoothly, yes?"

"Definitely."

"And where is Tidus?" _Oh sure, he gets _his _name right!_

"Um, inventory," Xigbar replied curtly. Xemnas nodded and walked away.

As Arcanum's finest employee finished cleaning the fetid bathrooms and settled back behind the counter, a new face walked by, heading towards the DDR corner. Xigbar hoped he would be competition for Riku; even the scarred man himself knew that Riku was killer at dancing and no one had offered a decent game to him yet.

This new boy was around Axel's age but not nearly as tall as the arcade king, with dirty blonde hair that was half in a short, bushy mohawk and half falling down his neck and in his eyes. He was wearing a zip-up, dark grey hoodie with no sleeves and a pair of shorts that were brown, grey, and orange tweed. _Tweed. _The sneakers looked to be Converse, perfect for pounding arrows. Or so Xigbar had heard. And this kid wasn't half bad looking, either. A little peaky, maybe, but a lot more alive than some of the other arcade junkies, namely Riku, who floated around the place like a pale ghost.

The tweed boy looked briefly at Xigbar, worry flitting over his features, and pulled himself towards the DDR machine as though an invisible force were pulling him.

Xigbar let curiosity get the better of him and slinked to the far edge of the counter, looking to the left and watching the 'drama' unfold.

The new kid watched Riku play for a minute, and when the pale teen finished he struck up a conversation.

"You're good. What's your name?"

"Ah, Riku. You?"

"Demyx. I play too. Do you want to go a round?" Riku smiled coyly, like a cat over its prey.

"You bet." When the coins were inserted, Riku cast a questioning look at Demyx. "What song?" It was Demyx's turn to smirk.

"Sakura." Riku nodded, found the song, and changed his setting from Heavy to Standard. He raised his eyebrow when he saw that Demyx's setting was still on Heavy. Demyx noticed the look. "I know what I'm doing." Riku shrugged.

"Your funeral." Demyx probably wanted to show off, so of course he would pick something higher level than Riku. He obviously didn't know that the latter was the best DDR player around. Little did he know, Demyx was one song short of stealing his crown.

To put it simply, the teen was phenomenal. Xigbar's jaw was nearing the floor. He only missed a few steps and managed to keep his bar happy and green throughout most of the song. Riku had never been able to master _Sakura _on Heavy. Never. Demyx totally blew him out of the water. But was he good, or did he just know the song? Riku had to find out.

To Demyx's pleasure, Riku pulled him through the most grueling game. That meant Riku knew what he was doing, if he could judge someone so expertly. But Demyx didn't even produce a drop of sweat to stain his hoodie. He bested the challenges and Riku, even when they were on the same level.

"I…how did…?"

"I really hate bursting people's bubbles like this, but I love to play. I can't help it." Then the teen lowered his voice. "I came here to do something else but I'm too nervous about it. Stress relief, you know?" Riku found it impossible to be disgruntled at someone so nice. Even if he had just been seriously owned, there was no reason to be angry. This must have been how Sora felt. And speaking of Sora…

"Maybe I should be asking _him_ for lessons instead, huh?" the brunet said in awe, staring up at Demyx. Riku was sure Sora was one step from bowing in front of the boy. Two pairs of eyes were on Demyx (well, actually, three, but Xigbar stayed hidden) and he shifted a little nervously.

"Hi Sora," Riku said, and was greeted with a cheerful smile.

"Hi! I came to prove that I wanna learn to play."

"He wants to learn to DDR?" Demyx asked. Riku nodded and replied, "Sure does." A large hand ruffled Sora's spikes. "And how could you deny such a cute face?" Sora's 'cute face' blushed brightly, almost as bright as it was yesterday after his failed attempts to dance.

"Riku, if I'd known you were taking on students I'd of joined ages ago," a cocky voice said. It seemed the commotion had even attracted Axel away from the other games. In truth, Axel was just looking for the blond boy, Roxas, who he'd met yesterday. This brunet seemed to have ties to him. Sora looked up at Axel, azure eyes wide. They reminded the redhead of Roxas, but the same spark he felt with the blond wasn't coming up here.

And just what was so special about Roxas, one might ask. Even Axel wasn't sure. It was just the way that he seemed so passive and utterly impossible to break down, unlike Sora, who was molestable in every way. Roxas had accepted his number, though! Just the thought made Axel jump for joy. Unfortunately, Axel didn't know the younger teen enough to judge whether Roxas was the kind to accept a number and call or accept the number and throw it away. Or maybe he would toil over it, blushing cutely. _Aw! _

"You're Roxas's friend," Axel observed, making Sora squeak. This tall, imposing boy was talking to him. And that hair! "I'm Axel, the arcade king." Riku sniggered, but the king ignored it, shaking Sora's slightly limp hand.

"S-Sora."

Riku clamped a hand on Sora's shoulder and added, "I'm not taking students, Axel. Just considering them."

"This kid here definitely doesn't need lessons." Demyx, at being addressed, looked down again.

"His name is Demyx."

"And he kicked your dancing ass."

"You don't have to rub it in."

"From what I hear," Demyx put in with an innocent smile, "he can kick _your _ass too." Axel didn't like being proved wrong, which was obvious on his face, but it seemed to be happening more and more frequently these days. "Hey, check it out! You guys look cool; you'll love this." Everyone's eyes on him (even, again, Xigbar's), Demyx leaned over the DDR machine and pressed an ear to its cool, black underbelly, pounding lightly. When he found the right spot he stood back, gave it a swift kick, and suddenly the machine burst into life, as though someone had put tokens in. He rubbed the back of his head. "It only works for one player, but that'll save you a dollar a pop, you know."

Riku was looking at him as though all his dreams had just come true, and even Axel's head was nodding with appreciation.

"You, my friend, are a genius."

"Heh, not really. I just spend a lot of time around a DDR machine."

"Are you new?" Sora asked.

"We've never seen you around here, right Ax?" Axel nodded. "So, do you go to a different arcade or what?"

"Actually I own one at home. You know you can buy those over the internet, right? Cost me a ton, but I got the machine, the speakers, everything, even the metal platforms. That's why I'm so good." He cleared his throat. "Anyway, when I bought it, the guy who sold it to me taught me that trick so I wouldn't have to waste money on a home machine. Even if you can just crack it open and take the money back out, it's a waste of time. And no one ever plays with me, so I've never had to pay."

The boys surrounding him were just about to express their excitement when a gruff voice cleared its throat behind them.

The employee, who normally looked scary enough to freak even monsters out, was narrowing his eyes, glaring only at one person—Demyx.

"You did _not _just teach our best customer how to snitch a free game." Demyx rose to the challenge, although his ears were slightly pink and his hands were shaking. He leaned forward and glared straight into Xigbar's yellow-green eye.

"I did." A painfully firm hand on his wrist brought them closer, almost nose to nose. Xigbar was scowling.

"What the hell were you thinking?" Riku and Axel wanted to come to his rescue, and Sora was nervously chewing his lip, but they were no match for Xigbar.

"I guess this ruins my chance of getting a job here, huh?" Demyx asked, cracking a sympathetic smile.

**

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**Okay, dumb spot to leave off, but I'm sure the next chapter will come shortly! **

**Thanks SO MUCH to all the reviewers. You make me dance like an idiot. An accomplished idiot, but an idiot nonetheless. **

**Kisses to you all, and I'll see you next time! –throws flowers and candy- Next time, some fatal attractions begin to show their pretty heads.**


	4. Hot stuff

**Lawlz, here we are again, twice in one night (if anyone's up at one to read this!). I just get too excited, I guess. If the story's suffering because of it, please point it out! Any help is adored. Disclaimers, I own nothing, blah blah. **

**To the reviewer asking if the free DDR game trick is real…it's not. –cry- But that would be so great, wouldn't it? **

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"So lemme get this straight. You came here for a job…dressed like _that_?" Demyx shifted in the cold metal chair, disgruntled, but not wanting to make a big deal out of it and further ruin his chances of getting a job.

"I thought it'd look kind of silly, you know, walking into an arcade all dressed up…" Xigbar had no room to disagree; that was a sensible argument. Besides, Xiggy himself looked like a nightmare too, in his lumpy navy blue shirt. Damn shirt.

"I heard you say you spent a lot of time around a machine, and you even have one at home."

"That's right. I love arcade games, and it was about time I got a job, so I figured this is the place I'd be most useful at. I know a lot about fixing things and I'm good with people so I'd be nice to the customers. Plus I love it here already so I'd be happy working here…"

Xigbar listened to him babble on and on, but he wasn't bored. This teen was fascinating, for some strange reason. Full of life. Xigbar believed very much that Demyx would be happy here. Actually, the one-eyed man had already decided he was going to hire Demyx; he was just dragging this on to make the teen nervous. Though his resume was crinkled and his hair was a mess and he'd just taught customers how to cheat a game, it didn't deter his chances of getting hired; it helped, in fact. Having someone this…_good_ around was a nice prospect. It would really liven things up.

"You're hired," Xigbar cut in. That definitely shut Demyx up. There was a look on his face, like he was so happy it was a new way to hurt. The older man smiled, the first smile Demyx had ever seen on him, and he had to admit, it looked nice.

"R-really?"

"Tcha." Suddenly a flying ball of grey shot up and glomped him where he was sitting, arms wrapping over his lumpy shirt. The contact was pleasant but surprising and Xigbar gently shrugged the boy off of him. Demyx's blue-green eyes were starry with delight.

"When can I start!"

"How soon are you free?"

"Tomorrow…?"

"Deal. Welcome aboard." Xigbar wondered passively if he had enough power to go and fire Tidus now. Hmm. "And no more hugging." The way Demyx looked at him was enough to say that it wasn't a promise the younger male would be keeping. "Let's go out and I'll show you around. We'll figure out what you get to do."

With a hand on Demyx's back, Xigbar scooted him out of the uncomfortable room.

* * *

After Axel went back to addictively trying to win an expensive prize from one of the machines (it was never going to happen) and Demyx was dragged away, Riku got back to business.

"Did you say you were ready?"

"Yes! Look!" Casting a glance around to assure no one was looking, Sora lifted up his shirt. On his tummy in what looked like permanent marker was written I LOVE DDR. Riku thought he had a very cute stomach. Actually, from what little he'd seen and known of Sora, Sora had a cute everything, even if he wasn't outwardly cute. Mature, but naïve. Roxas had written it for him, telling him that it was just too cutesy for anyone to turn down.

"Jeez, stripping in the middle of the arcade? You whore." Riku had to snap himself out of the blissful stare he was casting at Sora's lightly tanned skin. "Which reminds me, you left this here." He reached to the shelf area next to the machine and handed the button-up shirt Sora had left yesterday. Sora took it gratefully, a warmth flitting in his belly. Riku was such a gentleman. A really cocky gentleman, but still…

"Will you teach me now?"

Somewhere between big, blue eyes and pouting lips, Riku cracked. Defeated, he nodded. How could he refuse Sora after such a display? "Yeah…" Sora punched the air, hissing a short "Yesss! I'm gonna be so good!"

"Hold it, hot stuff. You don't even know the basics." Sora nodded. He was clearly off in lala land, though. Riku was so _cool_, and he was going to teach Sora how to be good too! There was no way he'd ever match up to Riku's skill, though. Just the way the silver-haired boy danced, it was like no one was watching, like the arrows were oxygen. Sora wanted that kind of relationship with them.

Suddenly a door slammed shut. Demyx came out with Xigbar, a euphoric smile plastered to his face. _Guess I'm not the only one who got lucky! _Sora thought. _Wait, er, not 'got lucky', exactly…_

Demyx waved in their direction and Sora eagerly waved back, happy his new friend had gotten the job after all. He could tell Demyx was glad to be here, and maybe he'd show Sora some tricks too!

Riku brought his attention back with a clearing of his throat. The teen was leaning against the arm rail, aqua eyes trained on Sora, as they had been since Sora first interrupted his game yesterday. There was definitely something in it for him, he knew. "I have to work in an hour. We don't have time to start today." Sora pouted in disappointment.

"Not even one game?" Riku laughed.

"I don't want to suffer through watching you suck again." Just when Sora was about to protest, Riku cut in. "Go home, get some rest. You'll need it." The glint in his eyes was devouring Sora up. No doubt tomorrow would be rough. "Oh, and bring your friend Roxas back. Axel likes him a lot." _And if he's anything like you I can see why_, Riku thought. For the second time that day a hand ruffled his hair and Riku walked away.

On his way out the door he met Axel, who was staring intently at the floor in the doorway of Arcanum, his cell phone to his ear, the arcade's lights flashing off it almost blindingly. Axel grinned at him, giving his best friend the thumbs-up. Riku returned the smile, wondering what was up.

Axel had been playing that dumb luck game (he only needed one more point to get the prize but instead lost four) when his phone buzzed against his thigh, making him jump into the air and startle a young teenager playing next to him.

"Hello?"

"Is this…Axel?" Axel's heart did a back flip. Then a cartwheel. Then a triple 180 spin with a jack knife…

"Yeah!" he answered breathlessly, fleeing the noise of the arcade immediately. Roxas's voice was a little tight with nerves. "Hi, Roxas?"

"Yup. I just, uh, thought I'd call. You did give me your number, although I don't know why."

"What, no one's ever taken an interest in you like this before?"

"No like this, no," Roxas said, laughing. Truthfully he was very excited. Axel was drop dead hot; the last person Roxas thought someone like Axel would like was him.

"You got pretty feisty yesterday. I like that in a guy." Was that a gulp from the other end of the line? This was when Riku walked past, and Axel giddily gave him the thumbs-up. If anyone knew about his lecherous habits, it was Riku. "So, were you just bored or did you wanna play more House of the Dead?"

"I thought any idiot could play that game."

"They can," Axel agreed. "But you don't seem like an idiot to me."

"So you're the king, huh?" Roxas inquired, changing the subject.

"You bet your boots I am." Roxas giggled. _Giggled. _The sound drove Axel crazy. And they really seemed to be getting along! They barely knew each other but Axel could tell Roxas was already getting comfortable with him. Axel could make anyone relax. He crossed his fingers and hoped, _hoped_, that this would escalate. Soon Roxas would confide in him and they could go to Axel's house and play games and do everything Riku was too apathetic to do. No one knew him better than Riku, sure, but Riku tended to get lazy about the relationship. They rarely saw each other out of Arcanum. If Axel ever needed anything serious, any help, he could go to Riku. But he wanted someone to go to with about everything, not just the big problems. He wanted someone who might appreciate his arcade abilities more. Axel was better than Riku but Riku was never jealous of it. He was competitive, not stupid.

And Roxas looked like the kind of guy Axel could take care of but could still hold his own. Someone who needed him but wasn't dependant on him. There is a difference!

"Well, do you wanna do something?"

"I'm getting kind of bored, and Sora's going to be busy for the next few weeks."

"Oh, the DDR training? I hate that game. Wait, does that mean you knew Riku would give in?"

"I thought there was a pretty good chance he would. And wait, you hate DDR? Why?"

"I'm not much of a player." He groaned inwardly. "Don't tell me _you're _good at it?"

"Hate to spoil the party but I am. We don't have to do it though." Phew. Hang on. '_We don't have to **do it **though.' _The first response of Axel's brain to this was _Hell yes we do _but he shook the thought away.

"Well, what else would you want to do?"

"That depends. Are you confident doing anything besides arcade games?" Axel _tsk_ed.

"Come on, Roxy, what do you take me for?"

"Don't call me that," Roxas reminded him quickly. "You wanna go to the beach? I haven't been with Sora in ages." Beach. Beach. Yeah…that sounded alright. Sun, surf, Roxas without a shirt. The beach was Axel's new best friend.

"Sure. I have to work most of today and a little tomorrow, but I get off after noon."

"We'll go later in the day." Roxas had heard the best time to be out in the sun was after four p.m. He liked the sun's warmth, but not cancer. Blech. "Maybe around four thirty?"

"Sounds great. Do you need a ride or anything?"

"I can walk," was the reply. "Anyway, I have to get going. I guess I'll see you tomorrow."

"I guess you will. Bye!"

"Bye…Axel." The line went dead. Axel did a mild victory dance. An old lady steered her granddaughter away from this maniac, casting him a look.

At home, Roxas was blushing furiously, looking at the phone accusingly, as though it had possessed him to say those things. He sounded so confident, too. But inside his brain was still trying to grasp what he'd just done. He just met Axel yesterday; the redhead was obviously older than him and just as obviously was _hitting _on him. And yet there was nothing creepy about Axel. Well…maybe outwardly, but Roxas was a good judge of character and he couldn't find any reason _not_ to trust Axel.

_What the hell kind of trouble have I just gotten myself into?_

He was shocked to find that he was already excited for tomorrow.

* * *

**Ahaha, two updates in one night. W00t. :D **

**So Riku's finally going to spend some quality time with Sora, Axel and Roxas are going out to the beach, and Demyx got a job! What can possibly go wrong? **

**Don't worry; I don't plan on sabotaging the good mood any time soon. The only raincloud on our fun is...AHHH, IT'S THE LUMPY BLUE EMPLOYEE SHIRT! RUN! **

**Love reviews, love you guys, love this story. See you soon.**


	5. The sky is falling!

**Uh, hi! Here we are again! I have a feeling there will only be one update tonight, but it's my longest yet, so it's just as good as two updates. :D **

**Disclaimers, blah. You know all of that. Onward!**

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Shifting his toes into the sand, Roxas smiled lazily. The sand all around him was hot and heavy, forming a blanket of sorts around his body. The umbrella above him, stuck firmly into the ground, offered much-needed shade. His blue eyes scanned the bottom of it, the muted colours making him feel even better, if it was possible.

Roxas loved the beach.

A few kids were building a moat around a poorly built sandcastle, screeching to each other to hurry up with the water already! Two old women were reading beneath their own umbrella. Happy shouts came from a gaggle of teenagers that were splashing around in the shallow places of the water, the cute girls smiling at the boys encouragingly. It reminded Roxas of last summer, when he and Sora went to summer camp and met two girls named Kairi and Namine. That whole week had passed in bliss. But when it was all shattered and not only did they have to leave their friends but go to school soon, and it made them wonder how their parents could be so cruel.

He hadn't talked to either of the girls all year and knew Sora hadn't either. Ah well, at least they were being lazy together.

Not anymore though—Sora was going to be busy and, by the looks of it, tired all week and maybe even next week too, all thanks to that handsome brat Riku. He wasn't that bad, Roxas admitted, but Riku just looked like the kind of person you should dislike.

Someone cried "ROXY!" very loudly, startling him. He scrambled up and out from beneath the umbrella, scanning the beach with squinty eyes. Suddenly something heavy nailed him on the head and he went down, hearing a muffled, "Watch out!" a little too late.

When he opened his eyes, in addition to seeing spots, two bright green eyes were gazing into his. Axel, on his hands and knees, leaned back when Roxas sat up, rubbing his head.

"Ow," Roxas stated. Axel held a pink lip between his teeth, concern in his eyes.

"I'm so sorry!" he said hurriedly. "I'm really sorry!"

"It's okay, Axel." Roxas allowed himself to chuckle. "What the hell did you hit me with?" An innocent-looking volleyball was held up to him; above it was Axel's sheepish grin. "You hit me in the head with a volleyball?"

"I didn't do it on purpose!"

"I'm sure. You want me dead so you can rape me till I decompose, sicko."

Axel coughed profusely and held his hand out, a sweet gesture. "With words like that, Roxy, _I'm_ not the sicko here." When Roxas's fingers wrapped over his, Axel forgot what they were talked about, but still hiked the boy up to his feet.

"Don't call me Roxy," Roxy protested. The author is, however, obviously on Axel's side with this one. His fingers worked out the kinks in his short blond hair, brushing out the grains of sand that tried to bum a ride on the strands. The little grains screamed in protest, but of course they were so tiny no one heard.

Then he noticed Axel was still holding his other hand and the redhead's eyes were wandering…all over his chest. Roxas blushed and yanked his hand away. Axel blew off the rejection by gazing at the blond and posing coolly.

"What do you want to do now that we're at the beach?" Axel said at last, eyes still roaming when he thought Roxas wasn't looking.

"…"

"I could hit you in the head with the volleyball a few more times…"

"NO! No," Roxas nearly screamed. "Let's uh, play with it the way it was meant to be played with." Axel could think of a few things he'd like to play with Roxas, but none of them involved volleyball. There was tonsil hockey, _fore_play, or they could run bases…

"Then come on, let's make this fun." With a grin he turned and dashed down the beach, tearing off his shirt in the process. Roxas made the move to dodge it as he followed the flaming hair down the sand (Axel's hair was a landmark in and of itself) and right into the water, which slowed him down, splashing violently up his legs and onto his new black and blue boxers. They were so cool, too. Axel's were yellow. Strange. Axel didn't strike Roxas as a yellow kind of guy.

Axel's body was very thin, almost anorexic. Roxas watched the muscles ripple beneath it, unconsciously licking his lips. Axel turned back and grinned. "Catch!"

This time he was right on it, smacking the ball back up into the air. Axel jumped and turned to face him, batting the ball Roxas's way again. "Don't let it touch the water!"

"But that's really hard!" Roxas pouted. "There's water everywhere!"

"Yeah, but it's more challenging than it would be on land! Then it's just dumb."

They managed to keep themselves occupied with the 'keep it in the air' game for about an hour, until Roxas missed the ball and it went flying to shore after a particularly powerful toss from Axel, and they were too lazy to trudge back up to get it. By now the beachgoers had thinned to the sunset people: lovers walking down the shores, sun-fearing goth kids, and stragglers, hastily gathering up their children and toys.

"What no—" Roxas began to ask but was cut off when a blur jumped on him and shoved him beneath the water. By the small amount of struggling it took to get back up, Roxas could tell Axel was just joking around. In fact, it seemed like Axel had a subconscious need to constantly protect him. He'd even growled at the group of teenage ruffians when they got a bit too close to his 'date'.

Gasping for air and none too pleased, Roxas retaliated, grabbed Axel's skinny shoulders and dunking him under the water backwards. He wasn't expected Axel's hands to wrap around his arms and bring him under too. A wave rolled to shore, tousling them both about, and Roxas latched his arms around Axel's waist in the search for something solid. He was surprised when Axel's thin arms wrapped around him protectively until the wave passed and they were both up for air again. Roxas let go hastily.

"Don't ever do that again," he hissed, but he couldn't fight the small smile tugging at his lips. This was just as exhilarating as being with Sora, only there was something more to his friendship with Axel, something undeniably sexual. How much older was Axel than Roxas? Shouldn't he have been a little worried about these kinds of things with someone obviously more mature than he was? Axel said he had a job, he looked at least a year older than Roxas, and probably knew what to do in relationships, whereas Roxas had never had a steady girlfriend besides a girl named Olette, but that had ended nastily last fall.

And when Axel tugged on his hand and led him to shore, laughing and apologising, Roxas realised that he liked him. Not just in a friendly way, no. Roxas _liked _him, and it was hard not to. Axel was sexy, with eerie confidence. And he was honestly interested in a ho-hum nobody like Roxas, the epitome of a house cat. It was like the Lady and the Tramp, only the lady was actually a very hot redheaded boy and…

He squealed when the towel attacked him out of no where, brutally rubbing his hair. Axel was speaking in a terrible French accent, rambling on about hair care and how much he knew about it.

"You see, zis is ze way eet goes, with ze hair and ze water. I say, I tell zem, no water in ze hair! But zey don't lizeen!" Roxas giggled and swatted Axel away, drying his hair on his own, lovingly shaping the spikes back into it.

Axel's hair, now wet, was a dark, blood red, matted to his cheeks and hanging around his shoulders. The tattoos stood out more firmly now that his skin was reddened by laughter.

"You're cute when you're happy," Axel said lazily. "You ought to smile more often."

Roxas stopped drying off.

"W-what?"

"Ah, you heard me, Roxy." Well, yeah he did but…

And that was when he knew Axel liked him too. He knew Axel had liked him since he first gave him his number, yeah, but this was different. Axel _liked_ Roxas the way Roxas found himself liking Axel. It didn't feel wrong or scary in the least, probably thanks to Axel's laid-back attitude.

Hmm. There were a few ways to go about doing this. One was the obviously bad choice that they could start making out. Two was Roxas could wait it out and test the water a little more (in a metaphorical sense, as they'd just _thoroughly _explored the water). And that led him to thinking about playing hard to get, and _that _got him to smile.

Wouldn't it just be nifty to make the arcade king go crazy? Roxas thought so. Hard to get it was, then.

"Why…why do you like me?"

"Didn't we have this discussion on the phone yesterday?" Axel smirked, his gaze fixed on Roxas.

"Sorta. But I mean, _why_, really? Do you just give out your number and hope people will go out with you?"

Axel's laughter was subdued, but it was obvious he found this very funny. "Roxas, anyone I ask would date me. I even had a _fan club _at school one year. But you should know that I've never asked someone out myself, and I've never seriously dated anyone. That's not to say I haven't _done _anything," –here he paused to raise a suggestive eyebrow- "but I'm not that type. Now, Riku, he'll go out with anything that has a heart beat, but I can tell he really likes Sora. There's a difference between the kind of like he shows everyone else and the kind of like he shows that kid. It's like…love at first sight compared to loving someone after being with them after awhile. You just _know._" These wise words sounded very strange coming from Axel's mouth, but they were all true.

The smile was smaller as he finished with, "So I like you just cuz I do. Do you have a problem with that?"

Roxas shook his head and smiled, stretching out in the sand. "Not at all."

* * *

Riku was shaking his head and Sora knew exactly why. It was obviously a very flawed performance, but the older teen _did _say he wanted Sora to do a test run, just to see what the problems were.

"Okay, I know we're on the light mode and the dancer in the background is trying to get you to dance this way, but ignore him, okay? He has a bad taste in clothes anyway." Sora giggled lightly but quieted when Riku glared. "Nothing exists but the arrows. How do you think we concentrate even with these crazy backgrounds flashing? You just have to block it out. Here, close your eyes." Sora did so and heard Riku hop up onto the platform. "_Nothing exists but the arrows," _the aqua-eyed male whispered in his ear, putting his hands on Sora's shoulders.

"Nothing exists but the arrows," Sora mumbled obediently, although Riku's whispers were causing his body to stir. _Nothing exists but the arrows. There is no sexy, silver-haired god whispering in your ear. Whoa, wrong train of thought! Wrong one!_

"Good. Open 'em." The annoying 'bonk' sound signaled that Riku was looking for a new song.

"Nothing too hard," Sora warned.

"See, your problem isn't that the songs are hard, you just don't know how to take them. It's like this." Riku leaned against the machine and Sora did the same with the arm rail, crossing arms over his skinny chest and focusing on Riku. "Learning DDR is like learning a language. Beginner Mode is like the alphabet. You have to learn the alphabet before anything else. Once you master that you move on to Light Mode, which is like small words, the basics. After you can speak you have to make sentences, right? Well, Standard Mode, or Trick, as it's also known, is learning to make sentences that make sense, so you can communicate with the world. You can consider yourself a good DDR player if you can do things on Trick Mode. And then, if you want to get rough, there's Heavy Mode, or Maniac. Maniac is intelligence, the kind of sentences that make you stand out, with difficult words and interesting presentation.

"Once you learn _how _to play, things will go easier from then on. For instance, after I learned _how _to dance on a machine like this, I went on to Standard Mode. At first, I had to learn a few songs by doing them over and over until I got certain parts right. But after you get them right and acquire the skills, you can take on almost every other song and not have to train at it. For a while it may take effort, but once you learn the movement for good it carries on with you, and you can tackle other songs."

Sora nodded, soaking it all in. It seemed like all he had to do was just…practise and it would come to him, the same way one learns to ride a bike, first with a tricycle, then with training wheels, and then the actual bike. It'll just…come.

"Like riding a bike," Sora voiced. Riku rewarded him with a smile.

"Yes. Now focus, we're doing another song. I'm going to help you this time. Wait, I wanna see something. Pretend you have a right arrow. Now hit it." Sora envisioned the arrow and pressed the right arrow, his leg quickly returning to the middle of the platform, where he stood. Riku pursed his lips and bent down. Sora stiffened when hands grabbed his legs and forced them into position, each sitting directly on the left and right arrows.

"But…the guy on the screen kept his legs in the middle…"

"Didn't I tell you not to listen to the guy on the screen? He lies. The first thing you have to learn is to _never return to the middle. _It wastes _so much _energy when you do that; it's impossible to dance that way. See, now you can use your feet to hit the up and down arrows, and then return them back to the left and right. Let's try it."

The song started (a poppy beat Sora really liked called _Nori Nori Nori_) and he tried his very best. Actually, once he'd been told not to return to the middle it was very easy and natural. There was a jump and Sora tensed, but he didn't have to split his legs to hit the arrows this time, he just had to jump. He'd done really well by the end of it, as evidenced by Riku's clapping. Wait, that wasn't Riku.

Sora squeaked when Demyx slinked up behind him and tickled him. They fought for a moment, Sora laughing like a maniac and trying to thrust Demyx off. Riku watched and didn't fight the grin spreading on his face. Sora's laugh could brighten any day, he imagined. He was the 'hug it till it dies' kind of person.

"D-Demyx! Stop!" Sora said breathlessly, and Demyx let him go.

"You're on your way to stardom, kiddo," Demyx appraised.

"And if the almighty Demyx says so, it must be true!"

"Aren't you on shift?" Riku interrupted.

"Yeah," Demyx admitted, though he wasn't wearing the horrible employee shirt. Actually, he was wearing the same hoodie as yesterday, with considerably nicer black pants. Apparently Demyx only changed one article of clothing at a time, but never both. So tomorrow he was likely to be wearing the tweed shorts again with a different shirt. The hoodie, however, had a name tag pinned to it, announcing DEMYX in sloppy caps. "Xigbar put me to work scraping the gum off everything." His eyes brightened at the word 'Xigbar'.

Demyx still wasn't sure how he felt about the older man, but he definitely liked him. Xigbar seemed like the kind of guy who would stick up for you and protect you till the end, loyal like you wouldn't believe, but loyal only to a choice few. And, if one looked further, it seemed that Demyx was one of those few. It was like Demyx just _got _Xigbar and Xigbar got him and they didn't have to say a word. A team. But there was still the fact that Xiggy was older, so a considerable amount of respect was due his way, but it kept things comfortably formal.

As if to spite him, Riku took the piece of gum in his mouth out and stuck it right to the wall next to Demyx.

"You. Are. A. Jerk!" Demyx announced for all to hear. A few heads turned their way. Sora hissed at him to be quiet, but Demyx had already launched himself at Riku, and they were squabbling amiably, smiles on their faces.

Demyx definitely got his revenge when he plucked the gum off the wall and gave it a snug new home in Riku's hair.

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**Next time we give Demyx and Xiggy some well-deserved attention. –evil smile-**

**And it seems that I have somehow bruised my left hand tonight. Nothing is broken but this may or may be fatal, so I may or may not being slowing down the updates (depending on if I'm really hurt or not) and I may or may not be using the term 'may or may not' too much. **

**Just giving you a heads up! **

**AND THANKS TO ALL MY REVIEWERS! I LOVE ALL OF YOU. I send you chocolate and plushies and naked bishies. XD**


	6. We love our cherry panties

**Hi! **

**Disclaimers: I own all three Kingdom Hearts games, but not even three stocks' worth in the actual company. So suck me, Tetsuya. **

**Enjoy:D **

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"This broom does _not _go here. It goes in the closet. An idiot could figure that out."

"Yup."

"And you forgot to wipe off the mirrors in the bathrooms."

"Yup."

"…And there's a giant spider eating my brain," Xigbar finished flatly, arms crossing.

"Yup."

"You're not even listening to me, are you?"

"Nope," Demyx chirped cheerfully. Xigbar's eye looked at him threateningly, so he added, "But I got it! Mirror, broom. Right."

A small noise got their attention; a short girl with big green eyes and light brown hair was smiling at them, waving a fistful of tickets. "Hey! Can I get something for these or what?" Demyx didn't miss a beat, plucking the tickets from her hand and putting them in the ticket counting bowl. He winked at the girl, who giggled and was obviously happy she was interacting with the one that _wasn't _one-eyed and scary.

"There you go, little lady. That's about an even 400 tickets." The little brunette cocked her head.

"I could have sworn that wasn't even a hundred!" Another wink from Demyx quickly shut her up though, and they beamed at each other. When she skipped off, her arms were full of candy.

"You're gonna make this place poor. You know that, right?"

"M-hm," the younger hummed.

"Why are you so out of it anyway?"

"The music; can't concentrate."

"What music?" Xigbar feared for a moment that his coworker had gone crazy and was hearing things in his head. But he mouthed a soft 'oh' when Demyx's head jerked towards the DDR machine, which hadn't had a moment's rest the past three days. Even from this distance, Xigbar saw Sora was improving drastically under Riku's watchful eye. It did seem like Sora was being brushed off a lot though; after their lessons were over each day Riku kind of abandoned him to hang out with Axel.

Now that he thought about it, Axel hadn't been around lately either. Occasionally he came in with the blond boy Sora came in with the first time. Sora and the boy would talk for a while, and then Axel and blondie would leave again.

"Sorry; I've kind of blocked it out from being here so much."

"Hmm." Demyx's hand dipped down and he helped himself to a tootsie roll. Xigbar scowled. "Oh, shut up. Take a nickel outta my paycheck."

"I _will_," the older man retorted, slapping the teen's hand when he went for more. "We're working, kid."

"In case you hadn't noticed, _gramps_, we're working in _an arcade. _Seriousness has no place here." Xigbar gave up. It wasn't like he was big on staying serious and on task either.

"Hey, cleanup by the jet skis." Someone had left a whole stack of food cups and bags by the jet ski rider. Demyx sighed but picked up the broom and shuffled off. Unfortunately for Xigbar, the jet skis were still within sound range of the DDR machine, so Demyx was humming and dancing more than sweeping, shaking his butt. When he'd finished and disposed of the junk, Demyx quickly fled past the counter before Xigbar could say anything (he'd left the broom in the wrong place _again_) and went towards Riku and Sora. He seemed to frickin _gravitate _in that direction.

"So-ra!"

"Dem—"

"Ick!" Riku finished before Sora could say another syllable. There wasn't anything hostile between them, but for some reason Riku just felt like he was competing with the brunet for something. Maybe it was because Demyx and Sora got along so well already. Demyx always scooted by to encourage the younger boy, but he had yet to challenge Riku again. Actually, since the first day he was hired, Demyx hadn't even touched the machine, probably because Xigbar was watching his new employee with hawk's eyes. And for a good reason, too!

Demyx stuck his tongue out at Riku before asking, "How's it going? Getting any better?"

"Yeah!" Sora beamed. "I've been doing Standard songs all day!" Then his happiness faded into a pout. "But I'm still not that good at it; I mess up a lot."

"Sora, do you know why I bought an entire machine for my house?" Sora shook his head. "It was because I was so terrible that I didn't want anyone to see me play until I was good." That brightened the smaller brunet considerably.

"You were bad too, once?"

"What have I told you, Sora?" Riku admonished, a hand on his hip. "You're not 'bad', you just haven't learned. You can't be bad at something you don't know how to do." It didn't make Sora feel better to blame his incompetence on ignorance, but Riku had a point. Even though he sorta _did _know how to play now. But as far as the skills went, he was still bottom of the barrel.

"Listen to Riku; he knows what he's talking about." Sora was about to make a comment, but a figure loomed behind Demyx, grabbing the back of the boy's shirt collar. (Today was a 'change the shirt but not the pants' day.)

"_Work_," Xigbar gritted out, dragging a whining Demyx off. Sora waved and looked sympathetic. Riku let out the breath he didn't know he was holding. He had Sora to himself again. Phew.

With Xigbar and Demyx's bickering as background noise, Sora hopped off the platform for a water break. Riku's eyes followed him even as he bent over the water fountain, down the slope of his back and further, gaze eventually landing on the boy's backside. When Sora came back Riku was lost in a daze and flushed when Sora snapped his fingers.

"Riiiiku! Stop spacing out on me. What song are we going to do next?"

"That depends. What time is it?" It was a dumb question considering the only watch between the two of them belonged to Riku, but he swallowed and checked said watch before Sora could point that out. "Axel was saying something about dinner here. I'm invited, of course, but he said you could come too, if you wanted."

Sora whole face lit up. "Y-yeah! Are you sure you'd want me around?"

"We haven't gotten to know each other at all. I've been with you for, what, four days now and I still don't even know your favourite colour. Of course, if you don't wanna be friends, you don't have to bother." Friends? Riku wanted to be friends with him? Riku who looked like he could bang every girl in their grade and probably had wanted to be friends with a dork who had to learn to pound arrows just to be cool?

And the way Riku asked it, it was like there was no way he could protest, like he was just daring Sora to say no.

"Yeah, I wanna be friends! I'm sure Roxas wouldn't mind, and…"

"Roxas is going to be there too. He and Axel sure are getting along." Sora blushed a little. He'd been hanging around Roxas's house a lot, as usual, and had overheard at least two phone conversations between his friend and Axel, and Roxas sometimes talked about him. The way he talked, Axel sounded like a really nice guy, even if it was only to Roxas. Roxas had struggled for a way to express it. Axel was nice to everyone, but in a 'I'm just being nice to you out of pity' kind of way, whereas with Roxas and Riku it was a 'I love you guys GROUP HUG NOW' kind of nice.

"Ha, yup." A piercing scream broke his thoughts. It appeared that Demyx was being brutally beaten with the handle of a broom. Sora wanted to dash over and help, but Riku grabbed his arm.

"Where are you going, sucker? You can't leave; you're training."

"When will I know I've had enough training?" Sora huffed.

"Hmm. Close your eyes." Sora complied. "What do you see?"

"Arrows," the blue-eyed boy replied. Riku's laughing caused his eyes to snap open again.

"Then you've had enough training for today. The arrows in your head are how you _know _it's working. I used to see them all the time when I was first learning to play, especially when I was trying to sleep." He paused thoughtfully. "We've got enough time to get to dinner, even if we drag ourselves. Ready to go?"

"Yeah!"

Completely ignoring Demyx and his plight ("Guys, stop, help meeee!") the two boys left Arcanum, filing into the stream of mall patrons.

Demyx decided he'd had enough. The menacing broom came down for another hit and he grabbed it, smirking. Xigbar uttered a short "Guh" when he was jerked forward, nose touching Demyx's. If he had been a blushing sort of person, this was where it would have showed.

The smile on the brunet's face was wolfish. "I win."

* * *

Roxas and Axel had, quite rudely, started to eat before their friends arrived. After a day of being dragged around the mall by the tall redhead, the only thing Roxas wanted was food. They'd hit all the good stores, though they didn't buy anything. Axel even tried to get him into Secret Place, the mall's lingerie store. "Come on, Roxas, you'd look so cute in a pair of cherry panties!"

"And you'd look good with a pair of broken legs," Roxas commented back.

As they ate, however, they were silent, enjoying their burgers and fries. Roxas watched with interest when Axel peeled the red sticker off his burger's wrapper and stuck it to his chest. "What do you think, Rox?" Roxas almost gagged when he read the sticker, which proclaimed "Hot, fresh, and just for you!" in bold yellow letters. He raised an eyebrow, but Axel's grin only grew bigger.

"Only you, Axel."

"Only _for _you, Roxy," Axel added. He did look hot and fresh today, actually, in loose black cotton pants and a teal t-shirt with black trim. The teal complimented his eyes, something Roxas noticed every time he glanced into them. Axel looked great when he smiled for someone with tattoos of tears on his cheeks. It didn't make sense. He wished he knew why he'd gotten them in the first place. If he asked Sora maybe Sora could ask Riku.

Speak of the devil and his monkey boy; here came Sora and Riku now. Almost as if Riku had expected Axel would be eating already, he was carrying a tray of food, which he set down. The table was a four-seater, situated in the very middle of the food court, near the carousel. Sora smiled at his friend and sat beside him, snitching a fry. Roxas let him do it.

"How's training, Sora?"

"It's great! I could probably beat Axel now." This wasn't true; Axel wasn't _that _bad. But the redhead was absorbed in a conversation with Riku and didn't notice.

"That's a lie."

"Yeah," he answered sheepishly. "You want some of my Chinese?"

"Blech, Sora, you know I hate Chinese."

"You're so racist."

"What the hell…?"

Riku stifled a laugh behind his hand, raising Sora and Roxas's suspicions.

"What's so funny, _honey_?" Sora dared to ask.

"Don't worry about it, pumpkin," Riku bit back. "Eat your food and shut up." But the grin never left his face, so Sora beamed back and did as he was told.

* * *

**Okay, so my hand is definitely bruised but nothing hurts, so…I'm just going to keep doing what I'm doing! W00t!**

**See you guys tomorrow night!**


	7. A date, you say?

**Hi there. Sorry for the late update. The first night it was just me being lazy, and last night I went to see Carrots of the Pirabbean: Orlando Bloom's Chest.**

**Disclaimers: I don't own Kingdom Hearts! Eventually I will find Tetsuya and tie him up and beat him (or do other naughty things to him) until he hands over the rights. But I can't do that until the restraining order lifts. So.**

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A fuzzy voice broke through the sound of his heart pounding in his head. Opening lazy blue eyes, he was faced with a nearly identical pair, striking against the rest of his face, staring in a puzzled way at him.

"Sora?"

"Hey Roxas." It sounded as though the syllables of Roxas's name themselves hurt to say.

"Is Riku working you too hard again?" Sora cast a glance at said silver-haired boy, who was lounging on the counter talking to Xigbar. He managed a weak smile, and replied, "Not hard enough."

"Well," Roxas said, straightening up. "Do you wanna go the beach?"

"The beach? I thought you just went there." Nevertheless, Sora was excited. The only person he'd seen for the past six days was Riku. He was even too tired to be a bum over at Roxas's house, which was quite the feat. Riku obviously knew his training regimen. And while seeing Riku so often wasn't a bad thing (Sora decided there was no such thing as too much Riku) it was nice to talk to Roxas again. It felt like ages, even though their last get-together was only two days ago, in the food court.

"Yeah, but Axel and I couldn't think of anywhere else to go." Axel was currently engrossed in a game of air hockey with a tall, unsuspecting redhead with a strange accent. Sora's face fell.

"Oh, Axel's gonna be there?"

"Yeah, is that a problem?" Roxas asked, brows furrowed. Since when was Sora so picky? But the brunet immediately picked up on his friend's confusion.

"It's just that you're always hanging out with him now."

"Well, yeah…we get along great. Not as good as you and me, of course, but I mean…you're with Riku all the time." He had a point, and he knew it.

"But I'm training!"

"Yeah, and not letting anyone else on the machine. Axel said that if I could show him some things he'd be willing to play, but we haven't gotten a chance."

Riku was striding back towards his apprentice and was about to break up the conversation between Sora and the boy he understood to be Roxas when he heard this part of the conversation. Instead of approaching the boys he surreptitiously veered and hopped up onto the DDR machine instead, pretending to be tying his shoe. What a little sneak.

"I don't think the training is going to go on that much longer, Roxas. I'll be done soon and you can use the machine."

"Soon as in…a week? That's not soon enough."

"Stop being so pushy," Sora chided, flashing a smile. "Even if I don't get as good as I want, I'm sure Riku will get tired of me and stop training me." It hurt to say that, he had to admit. Riku was by far the coolest person he'd ever known, with the ability to succeed at everything. Usually Sora hated these kinds of people, but Riku wasn't like that. Riku could probably pick up a violin and whip off a symphony even if he'd never played before. Sora admired that. He both wanted it and wanted to be it. It was no wonder everyone loved Riku; he was one in a million. And so far he'd proved to not just be another pretty face. Talented, smart, and loyal, if his friendship with Axel was any indication.

Axel was a great guy too, something Roxas knew very well. It was just that…they gravitated towards each other. Just as Axel said at the beach, sometimes you look at someone and just _know_. Destiny or fate (or hormones?) was pushing them together, and it was just too right to question, like being forced to wear a school uniform that you actually love. Axel and Riku had one very glaring thing in common: they were both suave to the nth degree.

Those two could do anything they set their minds to. Sora knew that even Roxas desired that.

Riku knew that what Sora said was untrue as well. He could never get tired of the constantly smiling face and cheerful disposition. There was no way to hate Sora's stamina and his drive, and his need for justice. If Sora was jealous of Riku's perfection, Riku was jealous of Sora's forgiveness. He had never been rude to anyone. Riku tended to be rude and cocky even when there was no need to be. But for some reason he couldn't be that around Sora, even if the boy was doing something that _should _have gotten on his nerves. Those eyes and that smile…made it all dissipate, as though it never was.

"Until then, I'm not going to let you eat any of the food in my house."

"That's not fair!" Sora pouted, and then remembered big boys don't pout. But stopping himself from pouting was, perhaps, even cuter than the pout itself. Riku had already melted into a puddle on the machine.

"Is too. Anyway, do you want to come with us or not?"

And then, without thinking, Sora blurted out, "Only if Riku can come too." The Riku!puddle materialised back into human form, and his eyes widened.

"I don't think Axel would mind."

"Would _you_ mind?" _Do you like Riku?_

"Why would I? I trust Riku." Sora smiled in relief, as though Roxas was the strict parent and Sora had just brought home a boyfriend.

"Then yeah, let's go!"

"When do you get a break from the slave driving?"

"Only when master allows one," Sora replied innocently enough, but the thought brought a blush to Riku's cheeks. Indirectly or not, Sora just called Riku his master. Oh boy. "Hey, Ri-ku!" he called, and the older boy quickly made himself less suspicious.

"Yeah?"

"Wanna go to the beach today?"

"Come on, you know you want to," Axel called, but it was hard to hear over the sobs of the boy he'd just owned at air hockey. _I do want to,_ the aqua-eyed boy thought.

"As long as we're not bothering you two. I don't want any making out on this trip."

"Silly, Roxas and I aren't even dating." Though he didn't say it out loud, Roxas mentally added on the last word: _yet. _

"Stop yelling across the arcade!" Xigbar yelled. A piece of crumpled up wax paper hit him in the head, and giggles came from the same direction. As the one-eyed man went on the hunt, Riku blew his bangs from his face and replied with a cool "Sure, I'll go to the beach with you."

Roxas pulled Sora a little closer and muttered something that made the brunet grin ear to ear.

"So don't ruin it, okay?" the blond said a little louder. Sora saluted him before dashing off and hopping over the hand rail onto the DDR platform.

"Don't ruin what?" Riku asked, crossing his arms. Sora's smirk matched his as he leaned in and whispered, "This is their first date."

"Date? You mean…?" The blue-eyed boy nodded profusely, grinning like a cat.

"Hehe."

"That's right," a voice behind them suddenly said. Axel, as he always did, had slunk up and listened in. "Wanna make it a double date?"

Hmm. A date with Sora didn't sound like a very bad thing in the least, but Riku had to uphold his image and immediately shot the idea down by fisting a hand in Axel's spiky locks and thrusting the teen away. "Roxas is about to play that stupid luck game you hate. Aren't you going to go stop him?" Indeed the blond was, so Axel ran off without a word. Just as Roxas began to fish through his pockets for a coin, two hands wrapped around his wrists and pulled his arms back. Axel rested his head in the crook of Roxas's shoulder. "That game is rigged." Subdued and seduced, Roxas sighed and allowed himself to be pulled against a skinny body.

"Right in the middle of the arcade, Axel?" This was only the second time Roxas had ever been this close to the taller boy, and he didn't want to be 'getting places' with his date in front of people.

Last night, Axel had offered to drive Roxas home. The ride went smoothly, but before Roxas could get out Axel's hand held him in place and bright green eyes bored holes in him.

"Do you want to do something tomorrow?"

"Uh, sure. Like what?" Axel hesitated for the first time since Roxas met him.

"I haven't thought of it yet. We can decide together. But, Roxas…"

At this point Roxas had sunk into the seat and looked at Axel with very forgiving eyes. He thought something was terribly wrong.

"You okay?"

"Yeah, I just…don't know how to ask this. I don't want this to just be a regular trip. I was wondering if you would…" Was Axel trying to ask what he thought he was going to ask…? "If you wanna make this like, a date."

Eyes comically round, Roxas could only nod dumbly. He _knew _it. He _knew _there was something there.

Even now at Arcanum, every time he gazed at Axel he couldn't believe his luck. Was it luck?

He would have told Sora about it, but, as mentioned, the boy had been busy training. Well, now he knew anyway.

* * *

"You'd better stop throwing things at me!" Xigbar hissed at his prey, who whimpered. The older man had him backed against the wall, where he was cowering like a wounded deer. Xigbar could be really scary when he was angry, and he wasn't even fully riled up.

Really, he was just doing it to freak Demyx out.

He'd finally abandoned the horrible blue employee's shirt, because Xemnas didn't come around enough to care what his employees wore and all the customers knew him anyway. Demyx hadn't worn the uniform from the start. People were also beginning to be less afraid of Xigbar nowadays. Since Demyx arrived, he'd offered an outlet for the energy Xigbar had that used to build up when he just stood at the counter. Instead of bland coffee breaks, Xigbar's breaks now included chasing Demyx, ordering the boy to do things, and secretly eyeing him. It didn't help that Demyx liked to wiggle his bottom when he leaned over the counter to interact with customers, or that he moved so gracefully with all his music and dancing experience. He was the best thing that ever happened to Xigbar.

On the other side of the court, Demyx figured that he and Xigbar were very good friends already, probably due to his cheerful persistence. The thing Xigbar needed most was cheer. He was even warming up to the customers.

"Did you hear me?"

"Yes sir!"

"And what are you going to do about it?"

"Throw more stuff at ya, sir!"

When Xigbar's fists came out at him, Demyx blocked them in the palm of his hand, and then a fight ensued, the magnitude of which could kill small animals.

Grunting and forcing his fists back, Xigbar's only other method of force was his hips, which he pushed into Demyx's without thinking. It wasn't until Demyx pushed back that he realised what he was doing. Demyx took advantage of Xigbar's sudden nervous breakdown, forcing the man back and off of him.

"We gotta work, man! No time for fighting!" Demyx mocked before skipping off, Xigbar on his heels, talons drawn.

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**Yeah, sorry. That chapter sucked balls. **

**BUT! Roxas and Axel are finally going on a date! And Sora and Riku are going to tag along, and we'll see if anything blossoms between them (and it will). And you're probably wondering where the hell I'm going with this Xigbar and Demyx stuff. It will happen. Leave it in my amazing author hands. –sleazy wink- **

**Bye! (Don't you find it ironic that the one time I actually say "see you tomorrow night" I didn't show up the next night? Won't be making that mistake again.) **


	8. The Motion of the Ocean

**Yo!**

**Disclaimer: Don't own these characters. I hope Tetsuya and Squeenix thank their lucky stars for that.**

**Enjoy le chapter eight, and be warned that I didn't check this one over too carefully, so it may not be flawless.**

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"Hey Roxas" 

"Yeah?" the blond answered, craning his neck to look at Sora. The two were lying on the beach, waiting for Axel and Riku. It was late in the day but early at night, the sun's rays staining the edges of the clouds hot pink and shooting through in beams between them.

"What's Axel like?"

"What'ya mean?"

"I don't know him very well, just what I see and what Riku tells me. But you haven't told me what you think about him. What is he like around you? Did you like him first or...?"

"Whoa, one at a time." Exhaling, Roxas squinted and looked to the sky. "Axel's…nuts. When I first met him I only liked him cuz of how he looks and acts."

"His voice is cool…" Sora murmured.

"Yeah. He's cool," Roxas answered almost wistfully.

"Does he show off around you, too?"

"Nope. I think it's cuz he knows he doesn't have to. He kind of stalked me at first, and I was wondering, why is this guy giving me his number when he's older and cooler than me? At first I thought he was nice but kind of a lost cause, like there was no point in even thinking about getting to know him. And then all this happened." He stretched a hand up, fingers curling around a cloud and releasing when they grasped nothing. Reaching for something ever-changing, something not solid enough to be real, real enough to be desired, or desired enough to be lost. But clouds always come back, in one way or another. "To answer your other question, neither of us liked the other first"

"But—" Before Sora could finish, however, Roxas heard someone shout their names.

"Yo, honey bunches of oats!" Axel called. The two boys on the sand sat up. It looked as though Axel was running for them, and Riku was stuck carrying all the stuff. Roxas didn't have time to blink before a blur flew at him and tossed them both to the sand.

"Axel!" Roxas giggled.

This is when Riku arrived, looking sweaty and disgruntled. He dumped the mess of items to the ground and wiped his forehead. "Water, now."

"Hehe, you mean like the ocean or to drink?"

"I don't care," said Riku, plopping down. "Get the umbrella up and give us some shade."

"Why do I have to do all the work?" Sora complained but obeyed, sorting through the pile for the umbrella and a towel.

"Because our two friends are snogging in the sand."

"Are not!" "Not yet!" Roxas and Axel called respectively, putting a halt to their little cage match. Roxas blushed.

"Hey, I agreed to go on a date with you, not kiss you."

"Ah, Roxy, we'll have to change that little mind of yours." _Playing hard to get. Playing HARD. TO. GET._ Roxas just had to remember that if things got hot.

"Right here, Riku?"

"Naw, a little more towards the water." Sora sighed, pulled the umbrella up, and tried again, thrusting it down into the sand. "Perfect." The older boy immediately stretched out on the towel, putting his hands behind his head. The beach reminded him of two summers ago, when Axel moved here, and they spent their entire summer by the shore. Axel's cousins owned a house not too far from here, right along the sea, and Riku was allowed to stay there every once in awhile (which of course meant he was there every week). One of Axel's cousins could have been Axel's twin. They even had the same fire engine red hair and tattoos on their faces, although his cousin's were different. Axel told him it was his cousin who convinced him to get his tattoos in the first place; they went together.

What was that guy's name? Reno?

"Lazy ass, you're just gonna lay there?" Sora said, poking his friend. Riku squirmed and picked at his white t-shirt to keep it from sticking to his chest.

"Yes."

"I want ice cream."

"You're such a kid!"

"Hey, you guys! Axel and I are going to play with the volleyball in the water"

"And no, you can't come," Axel emphasized, although neither Riku or Sora would have wanted to anyway.

"Don't do anything illegal," reminded Riku. Axel winked but didn't make any promises. When the two boys were gone, it was the cue for Sora to become incredibly bored. He loved the ocean, when there was someone to play in it with him. But Roxas was off having a summer love, and Riku was already tired of him. Sora didn't blame him either. Why did he expect them to become friends anyway? Now he was stranded here with someone who hated him and nothing to do.

"I'm bored," Riku announced before Sora's thoughts could get any worse. A gull shrieked in the distance, and two toddlers and their mother teetered by. The brunet was mindlessly drawing pictures in the sand. One was of a star. Then he decided to make it into a meteor, and then he decided to add a mini Riku, screaming underneath said meteor.

"Wanna get that ice cream?" Sora immediately perked up, swiping over his questionable sand-doodle, and looking at the other teen with questioning blue eyes. Riku was momentarily stunned by them. Big, azure eyes, long lashes, and rings within their blue depths. When Sora blinked, he was startled out of his daydream and continued as if nothing had happened.

"You said you wanted ice cream. It sounds good right now. Let's go."

"Yeah!" Sora leapt up, forgetting momentarily that Riku didn't like him. "I'll race you!"

"You're on, shrimpy." Without even waiting for some divine power to say "Ready? Steady? Go!" Riku dashed off towards the snack stand, leaving Sora in his dust. Or so he thought.

The scrawny boy was better at running than he'd expected, or maybe it was just all the DDR training. Although as far as he knew it was impossible to tell if someone could play DDR just by watching them. You'd have to wait until they actually began to play.

The sand sucked at the brunet's feet but he wouldn't be beaten. His skinny arms pumped, fists curled. There was a small line at the snack bar; the person at the very back unknowingly became their finish line. Just as Riku stretched his long, muscled legs to take command of that line, Sora burst up. They finished at the same moment. When Sora's momentum caused him to tip a little, thanks to his sudden stop, he was surprised when Riku hand shot out to steady him and stayed there until the two were finished panting.

"You're alright, for being so short."

"Height has nothing to do with running, Riku."

"I know; I was just trying to rub something in your face."

"You're a sore loser!" Riku's pale hand ruffled his spikes.

"Whatcha going to do about it?"

"Wait till you're about to eat your ice cream and steal it from you." _Or shove it in your nasty, prissy face!_ Sora's brain mentally stuck its tongue out. He was allowed to be immature once in a while, right?

"You wouldn't dare. I'm buying the ice cream anyway. You wouldn't be mean to someone buying you something, would you?"

"You're…paying?"

"Don't act like it's a huge deal. I've got a job and you don't. It's no sweat." _Actually I'd burn all my money in a furnace if it meant I got to see you so excited._

Riku remembered what Demyx said almost a week ago. "_And how could you deny such a cute face_?" How had he denied that face? Sora…the kind of person you want to lock away greedily, so nothing can hurt him and he's all yours. It made him a little nervous to know that if Sora hadn't swayed him to teach DDR, Riku could have passed up something important.

It seemed he and Axel had the same taste in guys.

Even after they bought their ice cream and headed back to home base, neither could think of anything to do. Axel had made it clear there were to be no interruptions on his date with Roxas (which made Sora wonder why they were invited in the first place) so they couldn't approach the other teens, who were splashing in deeper water.

Roxas's _everything_ was soaked by now and he still hadn't removed his shirt. It stuck to him in a painfully heavy way, causing him to lose to Axel at their volleyball game a few times. He lost for the fourth time, and by now Axel knew what had to be done. He tugged Roxas closer to shore.

"We've got to get you out of that shirt." Hands slid to his hips, making him shiver, and slowly hooked on the saturated edges of his shirt. The clothing was pulled over his head in one swift motion and then tossed to shore, where Riku eyed it carefully but was too busy talking to Sora about vicious crabs, of all things, to care much.

Because Axel had been only in his swim trunks a long time ago, both boys were now bare-chested. Just like in the arcade, Roxas found himself being pulled back, bare skin touching bare skin. Even though they were both soaked there was heat and feeling, a little bit soothing and a little bit…something sexier.

"Axel…not here." _HARD TO GET, FOOL! YOU'RE NOT DOING IT!_

_I'm trying!_ the meeker Roxas whined. The blond turned to face his date, putting on a serious face. But before he could protest further, Axel cupped his chin, his other hand on the smaller boy's waist, and lifted Roxas's head up. His last thought was _Hey, wait a minute—_

Axel's lips were very soft, pressing against his own momentarily. It was very short, very chaste, and very sweet, Roxas had to admit.

Looking down, he looped his arms around Axel's neck and breathed out shakily. Did that count as a first kiss? The ocean pulsed against their thighs and Roxas used Axel to steady himself. The redhead was so warm. It was hot outside and the ocean was just beginning to cool and his cheeks were burning, but somehow he still craved the soft, warm skin of the green-eyed teen.

"Sorry, didn't mean to freak you out." He came out of his stupor enough to hear that Axel was apologising for some strange reason.

"Er, that's fine, I didn't mind. I liked it."

"Really?" Axel's voice was breathless. The thrill in his belly was different from any other he'd had before. It was better than the time he narrowly escaped being fried by his cousins' bonfire and more intense than staring at the Pacman screen, knowing he was only a few short moments from obtaining his first arcade machine high score. Roxas was flushed and quiet, speechless, because of him. The accomplishment was greater than any score. The look on Roxas's face was better than all the looks of his admirers combined. Cheap glances of girls who thought he was hot, envy from guys who wanted those skills with games and women alike. None of it compared. It was better knowing you were succeeding very well with someone worthwhile than passing by with dozens of others you never really wanted.

Axel knew that usually your first answer is the right one. Don't second guess yourself. Think outside the box; solve problems without using the way that pops up first.

He liked Roxas when he saw him for the first time. And kissing him…even as short as it had been, it was wonderful. Axel knew he would always question the boy. He would always wonder if he was worthy enough for the blond, or if Roxas was just playing along. But worry had no place in Axel's mind. He simply had to tell it to shove off and trust Roxas. Follow Roxas. Protect Roxas, even if he could protect himself.

"I like you, Axel. Why would I mind?" Roxas shivered, rubbing his arms. The temperature was dropping rapidly out here.

"We should get back to shore. Maybe we can all go out and eat," the redhead suggested, smiling at Roxas. The latter agreed, and they trudged through the water back to Riku and Sora. Having long since finished off both their ice cream and conversation topics, Sora and Riku were more than glad to see their friends finally coming back. Unfortunately they were both stuck with clean up duty again while the blond and the redhead went ahead.

"I guess we're giving you two a ride home," Riku said, watching his best friend lead Roxas towards the parking lot. "No whoring yourselves out on the street tonight."

"But Riku," Sora pouted. "That's only on weekends."

"Yeah, I know. I've got a buddy who sees you two tarts flaunting your wares out there all the time." The umbrella chose that moment to 'accidentally' dislodge itself and come crashing down on the aqua-eyed boy, knocking him senseless into the sand.

Sora's giggles were anything but innocent, but he sympathised and helped Riku up. The brunet stared off into the distance where Roxas and Axel had disappeared.

"Is Axel always like that?"

"Like what?" Riku mindlessly folded the towel.

"All over people?"

"Axel is touchy-feely with everyone. It's the way he works; sex appeal is the one thing he knows better than games."

"Does he do that to you?"

"Why do you want to know about him so bad?" Riku chuckled. "Got a crush on him too?"

Sora scooped up their items, waiting to follow Riku's lead, and replied, "No way! I just don't want Roxas hanging around someone I don't like. But I think I like Axel."

"Good, cuz he'll be around for a long time, if I know him like I do. Once he's got something in sight he doesn't let it go, even after it betrays or abuses him." Sora wondered when their conversation got so dark, but Riku continued. "He's loyal to the end, unlike most people. He goes chasing after what he loves even when it shoves him away. If he wastes twenty bucks in one day trying to beat a game, he'll go at it the next day with thirty dollars. Is that the kind of guy your Roxas deserves?"

"Yeah," Sora said cheerfully. "I like him a lot more already."

In the dark, he could not see Riku's smirk.

* * *

"Lock up, will ya? I've got to get out of this shirt." Xigbar did indeed feel the desire to strip, but only because his shirt was covered in dust from cleaning the supply closet. That, and it was pretty sweaty from the effort of dusting the upper shelves. Demyx had mostly watched, laughed, and stolen more candy. 

Demyx nodded, however, too tired from the day to object, and picked his way through the darkening arcade. He peeked out into the mall; it was eerily quiet and many stores had already boarded up for the night. Irrational fear struck him and he fumbled with the keys like a zombie was after him, slamming Arcanum's metal screen into place and locking it tight before the ghosties could get in.

When that ordeal was over he leaned back against the screen to catch his breath, then stalked over to the counter, hopping over it easily and striding through the door to the back room.

It turned out that Xigbar had not finished changing yet. His back was to Demyx, so the younger quietly backed up and out of sight. His blue-green eyes were still fixed on his coworker, who was shifting through his back for a shirt to put on.

Xigbar's bare back was streaked with scars, some in groups, some long and large, and some in odd shapes, as though he had been attacked by multitudes of those scissors with patterned blades. But the skin was still smooth where it had not been scarred, arching over his shoulder blades. The muscles of his thin arms looked hard and ready for battle. Demyx found himself torn between sympathy and lust. Seeing the scars made his nurturing side come out, but seeing all this bare skin on someone he'd been harbouring a bit of a crush for (just a bit!) made him want nothing more than to touch it, slide his hands over Xigbar's back, to feel the scars for himself.

When Xigbar found a shirt and slid it on, Demyx quickly turned away, brushing strands of dirty blond hair from his face and trying to act natural. Xigbar's head soon peeked around the doorframe.

"You ready, kid? I'm walking you to your car."

"Why, Xiggy, that's almost nice of you," Demyx purred, following. They walked out through the back room and into the parking lot. Under the pale yellow glow of a light, Demyx waited for Xigbar to lock the door behind them, and then they were on their way.

When Demyx's small vehicle lit up in response to his keys, Xigbar nodded his farewell. "See you tomorrow, Demyx."

"Bye Xigbar! You will _definitely_ see me tomorrow."

"Goodie," was the last thing Demyx heard before his companion disappeared into his own car.

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**So, why did Roxas invite Riku and Sora on his date with Axel? Was it to force Riku and Sora into seeing sexy things? Was it to keep Sora away from Roxas's refrigerator? Sadly, no. It was because he was too scared to go on his own. Yup.**

**See you guys next time:D**


	9. Friends don't let friends be molested

**Hello! It's chapter nine…already! It feels like just a week and two days ago I was starting this fic. Oh, wait…**

**Normal disclaimers apply! Enjoy!**

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Riku could not believe he was running late for his own teaching. But indeed he was. Last night's beach escapade had tired him out and he woke up at a quarter after one. Sora usually came at twelve thirty. So the silver-haired boy had stuffed himself into some blue Bermuda shorts and a sleeveless yellow shirt and begged Axel to give him a ride, because Axel tended to be faster and more reckless when he drove.

The redhead was right on his heels as he threw open the mall doors and ran in.

"Whoa there, wait for me, Riku!" But the younger teen was already flying towards Arcanum, hair streaming behind him and sweat on his forehead. When he finally reached the arcade, he wasn't surprised to see Sora there already, but he wasn't practising.

"Riku!" Axel sputtered, catching up with his friend. "Why the rush?"

"I'm late."  
"I'm sure Sora can wait!"

"He can, but I don't want to look bad." Riku raised an eyebrow and Axel put on his "what, me?" face.

"What?"

"It's Friday. Are we still on?" Every Friday one of them slept over at the other's house. It was more fun to go to Axel's place, though, because he had a PlayStation Riku had DDR games. Even though the mats felt like garbage bags and slid all over the floor when they got their dance on, it was still a blast to play so casually and for free. Axel only tolerated playing it when Riku was over.

"You know, I've been thinking."

"Uh oh," Riku replied icily.

"Hush! I know Roxas mentioned wanting to use the machine, and I fully endorse that."

"Of course," muttered Riku, crossing his arms.

"So I thought maybe you could take Sora to your house and train him there, so Roxas and I can use this one."

"You forgot one thing, Ax. My PlayStation is broken and the only DDR games I have are PlayStation games."

'Broken' wasn't exactly the word for it. More like…burst into radioactive flames.

"Then borrow mine!" Axel suggested, waving his hands enthusiastically.

"I've got another idea. Why don't _I _lend you my games, and you can take Roxas to _your _house."

That was much better than anything Axel had come up with. It was easier to transport disk cases anyway.

"That's a great idea! If I can get Roxas into my house who knows what else I can do!"

"Whoa, that's enough info for me, thanks."

But Axel wasn't listening to Riku anymore; his mind was whirling through the possibilities. If Roxas was in his house, there was no one watching, no one to stop them. Roxas. Alone. In _his _house. Insert shudder of delight here.

It was okay that Axel was in lala land because Riku was already walking towards Sora, who saw him and smiled cheerfully, waving. Demyx grinned too; he and Sora had been laughing over something or other. It was best not to ask.

"Riku! Hi! You're really late."

"Don't remind me," he groaned. He lifted his view and looked dumbly at Demyx, who was staring back with expectant blue-green eyes. "Sora, do you want to start?"

"Yeah! Just give me one more minute with Demyx, okay?"

"…Alright. I guess I'll go snap Axel out of his stupor." Said teen was currently standing in the middle of the arcade, drooling, and some children were discussing if he was a statue and if they could ride him.

"You like Riku, don't you?" Demyx said, eyes glinting, startling Sora, who was unconsciously staring after Riku.

"Er, what?"

"I can tell by the way you light up when he comes by. When he goes home for the night you always have that look on your face."

"What look?" Sora asked angrily, fists clenched. He didn't like someone psychoanalysing him, especially about his love life.

The main hint for the reader at this point is that he wasn't denying anything.

"You look at the ground and purse your lips together, then watch the door of the arcade, like you want him to come back or something. I definitely think you like Riku."

_And why wouldn't I? _he thought sadly.

"So?"

"So…are you going to make a move or what?"

Sora leapt back a step in shock. "I, uh, haven't thought about that!"

"Well you should." Demyx hummed, leaning his back against the counter. Carefully he raised his eyes to look at the employee's door, wondering when Xigbar would come. Demyx smiled in an attempt to quell the boy's fears. "Changes are he likes you too."

"You think so?"

"Maybe. I can't guarantee anything. But you know…you don't have to feel so shy about it. Look at Roxas and Axel."

"Axel's all better; let's play, Sora," Riku cut in, almost on cue. Demyx nodded wisely and waved Sora off.

Riku played alongside Sora this time. He only did that on certain days. Most of the time he just leaned back and critiqued Sora, but today he had a lot of pent-up energy and frustration. It made Sora feel bad about himself, however, watching Riku make it through songs on Heavy that he was still stuck with on Standard.

"Riku…do you have to make me feel so bad?"

"Sorry. I just have a lot on my mind," Riku replied gruffly. Sora laid a hand softly on his shoulder and locked his eyes with Riku's.

"Is there anything _I _can do? Real people solve problems better than a game, you know." Riku's hand touched his momentarily before the older boy gently removed Sora's hand.

"Sometimes real people are the problem."

"Riku?" This sad Riku was strange and unwelcome in Sora's eyes. And he felt a little put-off.

But Riku gave Sora a small smile, one that wasn't forced, and the doubts melted away like an ice cube under a shower of sparks.

"I don't need you worrying about it. It doesn't really matter." It really didn't, because Riku couldn't pinpoint exactly _what _was making him so frustrated. It just felt like something was slipping away and he had to reach out and take it or it would disappear forever. And at the same time he felt like it was already gone. But what was _it_?

His fists were clenching. Sora noticed.

"Riku…"

"You pick the next song, Sora. I need water." He avoided looking into Sora's big, concerned azure eyes as he stepped off and over to the water fountain.

"We're friends, Riku," Sora murmured, just loud enough for Riku to hear. "You don't have to lock yourself in the closet."

_Friends, huh? Are we friends, Sora? We must be. If I was just the cool guy you wanted to be, I wouldn't still be here. If you were just tagging along, fawning over me like everyone else, you would already have shown that. You're here everyday and you even wait for me when I'm almost an hour late. Either you're crazy or you really like me. And I'm not objecting to that. _

Riku never needed friends to make him strong. Making him whole was an entirely different story.

* * *

"Roxas, pick up your goddamn—"

"Hello?"  
"Um, hi!" Axel bit his lip. "Are you coming by today?"

"Afraid not. I'm on house arrest for the day."

"What'd you do?" the redhead asked with an edge of mischief to his voice.

"It's what I _didn't _do. Apparently the fate of the world rests upon whether my room is clean or not. So I'm stuck here until I finish. Why?"

"I was wondering if you'd wanna…come over tomorrow?"  
"Come over?" There was a rustle; Roxas shifted the phone, holding it in place with his shoulder while he dusted the blades of his ceiling fan.

"To my house." Was that…Roxas choking on the other line?

"_What_?"

"I wanted to know if you would come over to my house and play DDR there because Riku and Sora are such game hogs," Axel breathed out steadily, careful not to mutter.

"I-I guess I don't see a problem with that, as long as my parents don't find out. You'd look like a child molester to them."

"I'm only two years older than you!"

"Yeah, and you're also legal. I'm not." The blond grunted; the top of the fan was very hard to reach.

"Who ever follows the rules anyway? Why wait two more years?"

Roxas heard this and suddenly lost both his balance and his composure, falling off the stool he'd propped up and slamming onto the bed, which moaned in protest. He hurriedly groped over the covers, looking for the fallen phone.  
"I'm sorry! I fell."

"Are you okay?"  
"Yeah, I just…what did you say to me before?"  
"Do you want to come over?" Axel asked innocently.

"Sure. I don't have your address."

"That's okay; I'll come pick you up. It's probably too far to walk anyway." Axel knew where Roxas lived because, after all, he and Riku had dropped the boys off there last night.

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, it's worth it. I'll come around six. I'll even introduce yourself to your parents; I'm no freak and I'll prove it!"

"You _are _a freak, though."

"Then I'll do a good job pretending, huh?" Roxas laughed.  
"I hope so! Okay, tomorrow at six. I'll be waiting."

"And I'll be coming. Bye."

Axel felt giddy with happiness and danced around in a circle in glee. Actually he was circling around the light reflex game, dancing as though he was hailing the gods. Sora laughed. Riku considered reserving a cell for his best friend in the nearest asylum.

Sora leaned forward on the hand rail, rocking back and forth. Riku leaned over next to him, touching the sides of their bodies. Sora shivered.

"I guess he got Roxas to come over."

"Hey, if my best friend's getting molested, you should have told me sooner!"

"This is between our two lovers now, Sora," Riku admonished sarcastically. Sora grinned evilly and thrust his hips to the side, knocking Riku over. Before the boy could stand up, Sora towered over him, legs on either side of Riku's stomach, and looked down sternly.

"Friends don't let friends be molested."

"I should molest you just for saying that and let your whole policy bite itself in the ass."

"And I should start a new song and pound you into the metal."

"Oh no you don't!" Riku made a comeback, pulling himself free and grabbing a stunned Sora by the shoulders, slamming him into the machine hard enough to get the point across but not hard enough to hurt Sora too seriously. "Respect your elders!" Sora laughed in his face.

"Don't lecture me!"

The two began to fight playfully. Sora was faster and Riku was stronger, and together they were completely deadlocked.

"No fighting in my arcade!" Xigbar barked as he walked by. Both Riku and Sora stuck their tongues out and kept going at it. Demyx gave them the rock on sign, following Xigbar like a puppy.

Axel finally interrupted them for good.

"Riku…HEY! RIKU!"

"_What_?" the silver-haired teen hissed. Sora peered out from behind him.

"I've got work in an hour. If you want a ride home this is your chance."

"Why don't you walk with me, Riku? I'll go the whole way to your house," Sora offered. It was extremely kind. Riku would rarely consider doing that for someone.

It was so tempting to take up the offer that he finally did.

"All the way to my house? It's gonna get boring."

"Nah, we can entertain ourselves. We wouldn't want Axel going out of his way." Sure, Riku didn't want that, if pounding on Axel's door that morning and forcing him to drive the younger boy there could be considered not going out of his way.

"Alright then. Get home and clean up, Axel. I don't need a ride, but you need a shower." Axel's eyes narrowed and he smoothed a hand over his spikes, which resiliently popped right back up. He left coolly.

"And by the way, Riku, we're stopping for food on the way home. I'm thinking Arby's."

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**Hmm. Boring chapter, I know. In the next one, however, Roxas will enter Axel's humble abode all by himself. Prepare for rape. Hehe. Xigbar and Demyx have a moment and something may happen to Sora. Something horrible and awful and unimaginable! MUWAHAHAHA! –cough- No, not that horrible.**

**Stay tuned! I love all my reviewers very much! It's so awesome hearing that I make some of you guys happy. I hope I don't disappoint in the future! **


	10. Pizza and the Magic of Teenage Hormones

**This chapter is solely about Roxas's visit to Axel's house. I hope you like it (there are some goodies in there…). :D **

**Disclaimers, blah blah. Have fun!**

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The ride to Axel's house was less than uneventful. Axel owned a Jeep and the vehicle barely had doors, it was so out in the open. Even though Roxas was strapped in, he still didn't feel safe, and Axel's maniac driving wasn't helping.

With the wind whipping through his hair and stinging his eyes, the blond wished he'd brought sunglasses to shield them. Occasionally Axel would look over and smile, and once he even winked, to make sure Roxas didn't feel ignored. Sometimes it's easy to forget someone when you're driving. Roxas supposed it was also to reassure him, but it just made the nervous knot in his stomach tighter. What if the ice didn't break at all? What if the whole night turned out to be one giant awkward parade?

Perhaps luckily, the night started out pretty tamely, as Roxas's parents weren't home when Axel came to pick him up; he told them he was going to the beach again, so they took the opportunity to go out for dinner. This saved the trouble of introducing them to Axel. Miracles happen. Though there was that nagging voice in the back of his head saying, _If you and Axel get more serious, they'll have to meet him anyway. _He silently told the voice to shut up.

Axel's house was a very small (and why wouldn't it be?) ranch house with cream siding and a black roof. The lawn looked relatively unkempt, but nothing else was out of the ordinary.

"If you're wondering why it looks so neat," Axel said, breaking the silence and seemingly reading Roxas's mind. "It's because I'm always at work or the arcade and I have no time to throw crazy parties." Now that he thought about it, it was about time for a crazy party. He wondered if he could get Roxas drunk. Er, maybe this was a train of thought for another time.

Roxas looked around curiously while Axel fumbled through his keys and unlocked the door. Immediately a strong smell blasted Roxas in the face. It was a combination of pizza and Axe, which was a glorious smell to behold. Axel didn't even have to usher Roxas in; the latter wafted in on his own.

There was plenty of expected junk lying around—shirts, socks, game cases—and some things Roxas didn't expect, like a whole shelf on Axel's entertainment system dedicated to lighters.

"You collect…lighters?"

Axel laughed. "Yup. I don't smoke or anything, it's just a cheap hobby. I'm going to order pizza. You go ahead and make yourself at home." Roxas followed Axel's lead and removed his shoes (though, unlike Axel, Roxas didn't throw them and let them land where they may). While the redhead dug around for the phone, Roxas thumped down on the couch and stared at his eerie reflection in the television screen.

The kitchen was behind him, directly connected to the living room. On the left side of the house was a dark hallway, and Roxas could see the very sliver of a door. The bedroom and bathroom were probably down that way.

"Hey Yuffie, the usual," Axel's voice said. He was in the kitchen, hurriedly crunching up six odd pizza boxes to make room for another. Axel loved his pizza. The voice that answered him was cheerful and female, but Roxas couldn't make out the words. Instead he stared around him. Some _Game Informer _magazines were stacked on the coffee table between cups and dishes and the topmost looked to be April's edition. There was a ceiling fan that was turning lazily, clicking slightly, and stacked atop the television was a cable box, DVD player, and a PlayStation. On the lower shelves was an X-Box.

"Great. Thirty minutes or less, you know the drill. I know you know! Jeez. Yeah. Really? You're a pal. Thanks." Axel tossed the phone unceremoniously onto the couch before vaulting over it, landing next to Roxas. He laid one hand over the other on the back of the couch and leaned over.

"Pizza's coming."

"I heard. You order often, huh?"

"At least three times a week. I hope you're hungry." _Yes! _Roxas's tummy screamed. _Feed me! I demand to be fed THIS INSTANT! _

"Sure am. Did Riku give you the game?"

"Yeah…but it might take a few minutes to remember where I put it." Roxas sighed.

"You already forgot?"

"Wanna help me look?" Axel said with a grin. "I think it might be in the bedroom."

"Ah, er, no! I'll just…"

"You sit here and look pretty. I'll be right back." Axel chuckled as he rose and strode down the hallway to the bedroom he hoped would be graced by Roxas's presence.

After he'd finally returned with DDR Extreme in hand, they'd only waited ten more minutes for the pizza to arrive. They decided it'd be best to eat, wait a few minutes, and then play.

"You have real dishes," Roxas pointed out.

"What did you expect? Paper?"

"Maybe."

"It is a pain to wash them, sure, but it saves the environment."

"_Riight_," Roxas joked. "Well, your majesty, where do I put this lovely real plate?"

"Finished already?" The older teen looked down at his half slice before thrusting it into his mouth. "Me too. Follow me." Roxas obeyed and followed Axel into the kitchen. "I have a dishwasher!"

He did indeed have a dishwasher and instructed Roxas on where to put his plate. While the blond did this, Axel stuffed the remaining pizza slices into his fridge, which was already packed with pop and what may have been mangos.

"Now, what do you want to do while we wait for this to digest?" Roxas shrugged.

"What do you want to do?"

"I can think of a few things…"

"Like what?" the azure-eyed boy asked warily. The sirens really started going off when Axel advanced, backing Roxas into the living room. When the blond finally got the signal to run for his life, Axel caught him around the waist before he could escape and brought the squirming boy to the front of the couch, shoving him down. The taller teen then kneeled down between Roxas's legs, holding his wrists.

Roxas was awake and alive when Axel leaned down, but he wasn't protesting. It was frightening that this wasn't frightening. And then lips were on his, soft as they were the day before and just as careful. It was only a few moments before Axel let Roxas's wrists go, and the boy's arms slinked up and around Axel's neck, shoving the redhead down. He could feel Axel's lips tug into a smile. This of course did not amuse Roxas, who growled softly and thrust his tongue into Axel's mouth, shooting the kiss up to a new level and completely skipping the previous ones.

Roxas had no idea what he was doing. Axel had no idea what he was doing. But somehow they both knew what they were doing. Yes, it is strange.

Axel's hands held onto Roxas's waist, pulling the boy closer as Roxas tugged on his neck, causing them to fill the space between them in less than five seconds. Their kiss escalated, Axel's tongue skipping over his own and sometimes his teeth. They both tasted like pizza, but their own tastes mingled in with it, driving the other crazy. Roxas suddenly realised his legs were knotted around Axel's waist and the owner of that waist was starting to slip the tips of his fingers up Roxas's shirt. This didn't register in the boy's lusty mind until Axel's cold fingers touched a very sensitive spot on Roxas's hip and he jolted up, pulling his lips from Axel's and leaving a wiry trail of saliva between them.

The kicker was that all this kissing was giving him a hard-on. That would be difficult to explain, although Axel probably was in a similar if not worse condition.

"Hey there," Axel muttered breathlessly. "So friendly already?"

"Shut up," the blond moaned half-heartedly.

"You wanna move somewhere more comfortable?" Roxas didn't know whether to accept blatantly or run all the way to China. Axel chose for him, and he chose the first option.

Mindlessly Roxas stumbled, the redhead leading the way to what he hoped both was and wasn't the bedroom. And it was.

"Now look," Roxas said matter-of-factly, though it was hard to be serious when he was being laid out on the mattress. "This is only going so far today."

"Got it, princess. Now shut up and kiss me."

Roxas did not object, immediately exploring Axel's mouth once more and letting the older teen straddle him. There was a hand behind his neck, lifting up his hand, and another caressing the exposed skin of his hip. His shirt went up higher and higher, even between the bites to Axel's neck. There would definitely be some marks there tomorrow. And before he knew it his shirt was being pulled over his head, Axel's appreciating hands roaming over it. Teeth bit lightly into Roxas's neck before sucking gently, causing the younger boy to arch his back and rub his crotch directly into Axel's.

Oh yeah, the redhead had quite the 'problem' in his pants.

When Axel moaned because of this, Roxas took advantage of it, grinding their hips together and encouraging his own erection. The kissing grew less about lips and more about tongues, and often they would meet and mingle in the air.

"Roxas…if this keeps up I'm not going to be able to stop." The green-eyed teen had a point. Roxas doubted his own ability to keep his hormones in check.

An hour later, both were still very much flustered, but for a different reason. Roxas had been dancing his pants off (almost literally; he hadn't even bothered to put his shirt back on) and Axel was trying futilely to catch up.

_That was a close one¸ _Roxas kept thinking. Although secretly he wondered if he would be invited to Axel's again any time soon.

Meanwhile, Axel was secretly wondering if Roxas would come over every day for the rest of his life. Only one date (two, if you count this one) and he was already getting Roxas shirtless on his bed? What would tomorrow bring?

* * *

**Kind of short, I know. But you're getting another tomorrow night, so hush with ye! **

**A bit of making out is always great. There will be more in the future. The next chapter will focus on everyone _but _Axel and Roxas, as they've gotten enough camera time. Those skanks. **


	11. I'll be your munny hunny

**Blasted site shut down yesterday. Bah!**

**Well, despite yesterday's troubles, I bring you chapter eleven, which contains _different_ troubles that you're going to have to deal with, savvy:D **

**Disclaimers: Don't own it. No clever way to say it tonight. Enjoy the chappie. **

* * *

"You're in a good mood today."

"Yeah, and why wouldn't I be?"

"Oh, right. You had Roxas over last night." Riku leaned against the machine next to Axel, who didn't even lift his eyes when he answered his friend.

"Sure did. And lemme tell you, it's an experience I'm more than willing to repeat."

"That good, huh?" Riku examined his fingernails. "Did Roxas say anything about Sora being sick or anything?"

"No." A chuckle. "He wasn't really up to saying much of anything."

"You shouldn't wear him out like that; he's too young."

"You wear Sora out and he and Roxas are the same age. Anyway, why did you want to know?" Aqua eyes looked at the wide entrance of Arcanum, where the mall's polished floors were gleaming in the sunlight and people took their sweet time browsing.

"He's late. It's only fifteen minutes, but it's unlike him." Axel nodded, lights and pixels flashing before his eyes. Arcade Legends was, in his opinion, the single best console ever to exist in an arcade.

"Do you want to play me at Tekken later?"

"Are you even listening?" His anger rose quickly; there was a nagging feeling in his head. It was making it very easy to go from cool to annoyed in seconds. "And yeah, I will. If Sora ever shows up."

Xigbar took this moment to interrupt loudly. Thankfully the arcade was nearly empty, because if not it would have been more than a little awkward.

"What the _hell _is this!" he was yelling. Axel immediately looked up and stammered, "I didn't do it."

But Axel wasn't the one being questioned. It seemed that Xigbar had Demyx by the latter's shirt collar and was berating him. Riku and Axel shared one glance and then bolted off towards the counter to watch the drama.

"I didn't do it!" Demyx whined, motioning with his hands for sympathy.

"Who else would have access to it? Who else would do it? And you did that thing with the fire alarm last week, so that makes you even more liable!"

"I didn't do that though!" Demyx protested. He was right, he didn't. A few feet away, Axel sniggered. _He _did it. Xigbar's lips were drawn back in a growl, the tension in the air growing and tumbling over itself until Riku finally asked, "What happened?" tentatively.

"_This_ happened." Xigbar released poor Demyx and thrust something under Riku's nose. It was Xigbar's nametag, only someone had rubbed out his name and written 'Munny Hunny' in its place. Riku looked at the nametag, then looked at Xigbar, then at the nametag again, and finally at Demyx before bursting out laughing, hunching over. Axel, curious, plucked the nametag from the silver-haired teen's grip, and, upon reading it, started to laugh too. This coaxed Demyx out of his shell, and he began to laugh as well, releasing the giggles he'd been holding since Xigbar showed him the nametag.

"This is _not _funny," the scarred man growled.

"Yes, yes it is!" Axel cried out between laughs.

"Shut it, kiddo!" A hand on his shoulder startled him. Demyx's blue-green eyes were glittering with his amusement.

"…"

He didn't say anything, but he didn't have to. Just looking at the kid's happy face was enough to melt away the last bits of ice from Xigbar's heart, and at last he cracked a smile. Demyx grinned warmly, shaking Xigbar's shoulder a little. "I didn't do this, I swear! But I wanna know who did so I can give them kudos."

Riku looked questioningly at Axel, asking with his eyes, 'You did this, didn't you?' The redhead muttered, "Couldn't resist." Riku controlled his sniggers and said, "I'll bet it was someone we don't even know. Just a dumb prank."

Xigbar was about to object with how stupid that sounded, but Demyx raised his eyebrows at the man, bidding him to let it go. And he did.

"Well, whatever. I guess I kind of like it this way."

"Oo, oh! Can I replace my name with 'love kitten' or something?" He yelped when the older man shoved him in the shoulder.

"No."

"Aw, come on, you get all the fun? What are the customers going to think?"

"The customers already hate me," Xigbar stated. "What more can they do? Xemnas isn't going to fire me or anything."

"I think it's an improvement," Axel put in. Demyx blew a few strands of hair from his face and nodded in agreement.

"Fine, whatever. Go back to spending all your money, kid. And you," he addressed Demyx. "You have work to do."

"Yes sir!" Demyx latched himself to Xigbar's arm, leading the man behind the counter even though it was Xigbar who was supposedly in charge. It was hard to tell with those two. Demyx definitely had enough cheer to make up for Xigbar's lack thereof, but Xigbar had the authority prowess. It was one of those half and half friendships, where both have qualities to make up for the other, and together they create a seemingly whole being. Those were the best kinds of friends and couples.

Xigbar looked back at Riku and Axel almost pleadingly, but the boys just smiled and nodded, and Axel threw in a catcall just for the sake of it.

"Why did you vandalise his _nametag?_ Lame."

"Aw, admit it! It was funny. And that guy needs to loosen up a bit."

"How did you do it, anyway?"

"Demyx let me do it. He lured Xigbar away for a bit." The redhead drew his fingers through his hair. "Nice guy, Demyx. I bet he'd do all kinds of favours for us."

The comment was innocent enough, but as Axel walked back to his game, Riku couldn't help but think of the implications. Maybe he could impress Sora with Demyx's help, although it wasn't like he needed to do anything to impress the boy. It seemed just his existence was enough. And hey, why did he want to impress him in the first place? That wasn't like Riku at all. Or maybe he just felt bad about always being so aloof around Sora. After all, besides their trip to the beach, Riku tended to brush the brunet off. But he was teaching him DDR, right? That was the deal.

Speaking of Sora, where was he? A check of his watch informed him cruelly that Sora was now half an hour late. What could he do? He could call Sora, right? Wrong; he didn't have the number. But maybe Roxas would! …if he was here. Well, if Axel had Roxas's number and Roxas had Sora's number…it was worth a try.

"Axel."

"Yeah, what?"

"I need Roxas's number."

"No way are you taking my not-boyfriend," the tall teen answered, shaking his skinny hips.

Riku rolled his eyes and corrected, "I need him to tell me how to reach Sora."

"Oh. Well in that case, hang on. They give me a break at the end of the level."

"And when does the level end?"

"Count to ten." Riku did so, and true enough, by nine, the level was complete, and the screen asked for Axel's permission to continue. "Here's my phone. Just look through the addresses until you find Roxas. It's his house." Riku gave his thanks and walked out of Arcanum, sitting on a wooden bench that was curled around a large cement flowerpot that, instead of flowers, was holding a tree.

_Ring. Ring. Ri—_"Hello?"

"Hi, Roxas?"

"This is him." Roxas sounded a little stressed. Riku hoped he wasn't interrupting.

"It's Riku. I was just wondering if you knew how I could reach Sora." There was no answer for a moment. "…"

"Funny story." _Uh oh. _

"What happened?" Riku choked out, biting his lip.

"Sora, the bum he is, came to my house for breakfast this morning, and he just _had _to have the cereal on the top of the shelf. And he was climbing on the counter and…"

"This doesn't end well, does it?"

"He fell," Roxas finished grimly. "He hit his head, and it took about two minutes before he was out. I called the hospital. I'm there right now."

"Oh my god," the aqua-eyed boy murmured. "Which one?"

"Atlantica," Roxas informed him. "But you can't come—no visitors. Sora's totally knocked out and they're medicating him and asking me all sorts of questions, like I bludgeoned him or something. Although sometimes I want to," he added, and then quickly said, "Eheheh, I didn't really mean that…" (Where he was, one of the annoying questioning people was looking sternly at him.)

"When will he get out? Is he going to be okay?"

"Chill. I'm sure he'll be fine; his skull is thicker than diamond. I don't know when he'll be released, but he's concussed. Really badly. I was waiting for you to call, actually. I figured you'd be the only one to notice he was gone."

"That's kind of mean, don't you think?"

"Not really," Roxas said easily. "Our parents are at work and you're teaching him, so besides me you're the only one who sees him during the day."

"Well…concussed?"

"Yeah. They were even worried for a little while that he was damaged mentally. Like he would wake up and be missing a chunk of himself." Riku shuddered at the thought; how horrible that would be. He could have a drastic change of personality, or be struck blind, or something awful…! "But I don't think it'll come to that. We just have to give him some meds and wait for him to pull through."

"So…there's nothing I can do," Riku resigned. Roxas sighed on the other end.

"Afraid not. Listen; go do your thing at Arcanum. Sora will be back before you know it."

"Thanks Roxas." The teens said their goodbyes, and Riku hung up, not feeling any better. In fact, he felt terrible, even worse than the time he'd stayed awake for three days straight. Only this time around there were no hallucinations.

Tightly he closed his eyes, slamming a fist on the bench softly. "Sora, you idiot. You had to go and get yourself hurt." It was bad enough that the brunet wasn't going to be around for a few days. It felt like a piece of Riku's life had just been removed, a piece he hadn't known he needed until it was gone. But he was in a _hospital_, unconscious, and Riku could do nothing.

Slowly he rose and returned to Arcanum, shuffling past Axel and giving the man's phone back. Axel called after him, but he recognised the warning signs: Riku was in a mood. He usually had a very good reason to be in said moods, so it was best to trust him and leave him alone. Riku shuffled all the way to the DDR machine, not even bothering to use Demyx's cheat, and began playing.

His first choice was something intense, _Kakumei_, one of his favourites. He leaned back and pounded arrows furiously, letting his mind shut down and focus on three things: the music, his feet, and the arrows. This was his form of coping. This was a way to exhaust himself mentally and physically and save him from whatever hurt. And right now, that hurt was worry for Sora, and the sorrow he felt when he thought of the boy, pale and frail, buried in hospital sheets.

By the second song, _Drop the Bomb,_ he was so far gone that he couldn't think rational thoughts.

By the fifth game, first song (_Max 300)_, his feet were stinging, his lungs ready to burst, and his eyes burned. But he kept going; his mind had no place in this, and the further away his thoughts were, the better.

This streak kept up for another hour before Demyx finally had a moment and came over, looking at Riku worriedly. When the song was over, he reached out to pat the large console.

"The machine is crying out to me, Riku. It keeps saying, _Demyx, help me, everyone's abusing me lately!_"

"Demyx," Riku warned.

"Sorry man. I don't know what's bothering you. But I want you to know I'll get you anything you want. Free pop, free nachos, free whatever you want. Okay?" The employee smiled at Riku, who returned it, although reluctantly. He was very thankful for Demyx's offer, however.

"Thanks Demyx."

"Don't mention it. Now, I've got to go and teach Xigbar the electric slide." Riku raised his eyebrows. "Don't ask." The blond rubbed his head sheepishly. He cast one last glance at the silver-haired teen before bounding off.

Riku stared at the DDR machine. "Buddy," he said to it. "You and I are going to have a long night."

* * *

**Zomg! Sora's hurt! Oh noes! **

**I don't want to spoil anything, but the next few chapters will be fun to write, as some of the ideas I've had since day one will start to appear. As you can see by the ten chapters behind this, I didn't want to rush it along. I hate fanfics that go from "Hi, I'm Sora" to "Let's do it" in less than two chapters. So I'm glad you guys have tolerated the wait. **

**I LOVE MY REVIEWERS SO MUCH! You guys make my day, my night, my LIFE. Mucha love to you all. **


	12. Mario Kart and Chinese Food

**Hi! I bring you chapter twelve and a few doctor's notices. I know it's been three days and no updates. The first night I was just taking a break. The second night I was raving with my friends (w00t), and the third night there was too much lightening to turn on the computer. Bah, nature!**

**And from this point on I give you no disclaimers, because you're all fully aware I don't own squat. **

**Onward!**

**

* * *

**

"Stop biting your lip like that, man. It's getting really old."

"Let him do it, Axel," Roxas chided, eyes still focused on the television screen.

"Well then stop looking over at me," Riku snapped as though Roxas had never said anything. Axel was playing a game; he shouldn't have been looking around anyway. Then again, he was beating Roxas's sorry ego into the pavement. And we're talking literal pavement; the boys were playing none other than Mario Kart 64. They had enough controllers so Riku could play also, but he declined on the grounds that he had a lot on his mind. The 'a lot' was really just one thing—Sora. Roxas assured him that Sora was going to be fine and that he was coming home the next afternoon, but that wasn't all Riku was concerned about.

Sure, he was worried about Sora's concussion, but it was the fact that he _was _worried that worried him. Sora's cheerful disposition and smile had gotten under his skin since the first day they met. He hadn't realised it had gotten this bad.

Roxas pounded his fist into Axel's mattress; he had been thoroughly beaten.

The boys were at Axel's small house, crowded around the television in his room. Axel had made an effort to inform Riku just who was making out in this very room a few days ago, which didn't make Riku feel very comfortable being there, even though he'd been in this room so often. It'd never be the same now. Like knowing someone was murdered in your favourite park.

Axel looked up and Roxas's scowling face came into view, upside down. The blond was lying flat on the bed, his hands and the controller just over the edge, and Axel was directly below. He apologised for being so darn good at Mario Kart. Roxas shook his head and sighed before leaning down and giving Axel a small, sweet kiss on the forehead.

"That was pretty generous of you, Roxy."

"It won't happen often," the blond retorted, selecting a new course for them to race in. "Bowser's Castle."

"No! I hate that one; pick something else."

"Axel, we've done just about every other course. Besides, if you're afraid of it, it's only a better reason why I should go for it." The score wasn't _too_ unbalanced, but Roxas was behind in a bruising way. They'd done thirteen of sixteen courses, and if Roxas won all three of the rest he'd still only tie with Axel.

Riku rubbed his eyes almost cutely and yawned. He watched the lights of the television dance across his pale arms, which were crossed over his raised knees. His bare feet rubbed against the rough carpet. He felt very drowsy and started to fantasise about him and Sora racing in little carts through Frappe Snowland. Then he could knock Sora off his cart and they'd go tumbling into the snow. And Sora would have a bruise on him that Riku would kiss and make better. Oh! And then he'd smile and tackle Riku and they'd have a friendly spat for a while. Riku would win, of course, despite Sora's newly acquired DDR muscles. And they could have hot chocolate and when Sora would spill it, they'd have to change his shirt and of course the boy would be cold, them being out in the snow after all, so Riku would curl around him to give him warmth, and then…

Ooh, that was a train of thought for another day.

Riku snapped out of his half-sleep in time to see Roxas leap off the bed and do a crazy victory dance. Axel, ironically enough, had managed to dive his cart straight into the lava, and stupid Lakatu was still pulling him out. "Damn you, fire!" he screeched. Roxas launched into the 'walk like an Egyptian' strut.

When the redhead finally crossed the finish line, the sad 'you suck' music filled him with even more distaste. Angrily he reached out and grabbed Roxas's hips, pulling himself up and consequently tugging Roxas _down_ to the bed and began tickling the poor kid senseless. Riku smiled faintly and left the room.

"A-Axel! Stop!" Roxas begged, his legs kicking in vain at the skinny body atop him. Axel did stop, and traded the tickling for something much better.

Roxas moaned into Axel's mouth, taking in his tongue willingly.

"The same bed and everything, Rox."

"But Riku's here!" he gasped out.

"Hey, Riku!" Axel called out. "Roxas and I are going to have hot sex in here. Don't bother us."

"Axel!" Roxas whined, frowning.

"Got it," came Riku's muffled voice. He was more amused than put off, and decided to announce this. "It's alright. I'm going home. See you guys tomorrow."

"Bye Rik—mmph!" Roxas's lips on his again cut Axel off in mid-sentence.

Suddenly the tables were turned and Roxas pinned Axel beneath him, sucking a large hickey on the taller boy's neck. These impromptu make-out sessions had been happening more often lately. There was that time against the Tekken machine earlier today, and in Axel's car that evening, and now…

The plan was very simple: get Axel to respond to his touch. And not just respond, but _beg _for it.

Five minutes later, that's exactly what Axel was doing. Roxas's fingers were brushing lightly against his crotch, the other hand struggling but succeeding at wrenching the redhead's shirt off. Axel's hands drew bunches from the covers. Roxas laughed in a low, frightening tone. That's Sir Roxas to you. Master Roxas.

Roxas's fingers curled behind Axel's back, pulling the latter up into an intense kiss, his hands gliding all down the smooth skin. Axel's hands went to his hips, the redhead's own hips now grinding the blond's until they were both very aroused and very hot. Roxas's mind 'eep'd and a thought struck him. _Oh no, my virginity! I've been so busy being a dominatrix…_

Then again, it may have been worth the price to see arcade king Axel all hot and bothered and under his control. The scale in his head was weighing it. But by the time it could make any decision all the blood from his head had gone to the mysterious abyss (in his pants) and it wouldn't have made a difference. Hormones preside. Sex Axel up, it was, then.

He pushed Axel back to the sheets and feverously worked on his pants, which at last yielded to his master pants skills. Axel's big green eyes were looking at him in anticipation, a little fear, and great amounts of lust. _My fate and man parts are in your hands, _he silently conceded.

Roxas's thoughts were a little less coherent, consisting of: _whatthehellamIdoingwhattheruddy**hell**amIdoing! _

Axel tuned in just in time to see Roxas nervously sliding down his green plaid boxers, revealing the prize beneath. The blond unconsciously licked his lips, sending Axel's being into nose spurt mode.

Axel never thought in a million years he'd let anyone like Roxas touch him this way. He never dreamt that someone younger and seemingly less confident than himself would so boldly wrap his fingers around Axel's member. And he expected the ecstasy of it much less. From all he'd heard, people usually faked their sexual reactions. But it was completely and utterly unnecessary in this situation; Roxas was making him groan and twist against the sheets, longing for the sexual barrier to be broken even further. A week ago he'd never even thought it could come to this, that this beautiful blond boy would be rubbing him into oblivion.

"R-Roxas…"

On cue, said boy sped up his pace, ignoring everything in his mind that was telling him this was wrong, this was moving too fast, this was someone he barely knew. But he _did _know Axel, and it was even more wrong to say he didn't. It had taken him five times as long to get used to Sora. There stands the barrier between best friend and lover.

So Roxas narrowed his gaze and closed his eyes, working in time with Axel's excited thrusts, relishing that he was the leader here. Roxas was fully clothed; Axel the exact opposite.

The tightening in Axel's hips signaled that the end was coming soon, and he announced this to Roxas, who thought vaguely of being cruel and releasing the redhead, but immediately discarded the thought in favour of going even faster. And suddenly there was only white in Axel's eyes, no thoughts at all, and a wave of shaky good feeling. And when the nothingness passed thoughts of Roxas took its place at once, and he called out that very name.

"_Roxas_!"

* * *

"You never told me you liked Chinese."

"Who doesn't?" Xigbar scowled and strung a few more noodles upon his plastic fork. He kicked the heels of his shoes into the counter, swinging his legs in tune to a beat that Demyx was humming. Demyx soon dropped this song and started whistling along to the DDR machine's empty blasts of sound, tidbits of songs. The arcade was once again silent and dark, most of the machines powered down except for the ones that provided the most light. Beyond the security screen, the mall was eerie and full of shadows, without a soul around. Except for Xigbar and Demyx, of course.

It was Xigbar's idea, surprisingly, to stay here and have some dinner. Demyx was obviously enjoying himself, which was good, and Xigbar felt a little guilty for keeping the kid here. But the teen was happy and satisfied, devouring his sweet and sour chicken with fervour. He could even use chopsticks like a pro. Why was Xigbar not surprised? Demyx had the same ability as Riku; he was good at mostly anything he tried.

Demyx felt eyes on him, but when he looked up Xigbar quickly averted his gaze.

"Something wrong?"

"Hmm? Oh, no. Nothin' at all."

"I see." The chopsticks pressed beneath his lower lip contemplatively.

"You ever want something you can't have?" Xigbar spoke, his clear voice penetrating the silence Demyx was expecting. It shocked both of them a little to hear what he'd said.

Xigbar was not directly speaking of anything, but lately he'd been having a foreboding feeling in the pit of his stomach, like there was something he wanted that he _shouldn't _be wanting, even though he couldn't think of what he needed so badly. He expressed this.

"Not can't have, exactly. But, you know when you don't even _know_ what you want but you don't think you could have it even if you did?"

Demyx propped his chin up with the palm of his left hand. He stirred his rice as if searching the grains for the answer. Then he smiled.

"I know what it's like to have all the signs pushing you towards something that you really want, but that you know isn't right. Like fate wants you to have it and you want to have it, but you're trying to tell fate to shut up and stop getting your hopes up cuz it isn't happening."

"Man, that's close enough." There was no trace of disappointment in his voice, because it truly was close enough. It was better than Demyx laughing at him and telling him to stop thinking so hard.

Demyx never expected to have philosophical discussions with his gruff coworker, and more recently the object of his affection. But that was a secret. It was also what he was speaking of. Everything that would have made Xigbar unattractive to the world just made him look better in Demyx's eyes, from the long, grey-tinged hair to the scar on his cheek, and even his missing eye. None of it devalued the property. It just made Demyx long to know how he'd gotten all these scars. He desperately wanted to know what had happened to this man. There were so many mysteries he wanted the answers to. And lately all his new friends were finding lovers in each other (even if Riku didn't know it yet), and it made him the slightest bit jealous. He wanted someone to love like that. He wanted to kiss someone like Axel kissed Roxas, with the kind of relief that breathes "I found you and you're not going anywhere."

Unlike most animal societies, Demyx couldn't simply do a wonderful dance and snag a lover. He had a feeling Xigbar wouldn't be too impressed with his Dance Dance Revolution skills anyway. Actually, the older man was very impressed with those skills, but he never let on. And then there was the whole age issue…how old was Xigbar anyway?

Xigbar was staring at him intently, waiting for an answer, or at least a sign that he'd heard. When he didn't get one, he inched over to where Demyx was leaning against the counter and leant his head down. "Are you okay?"

"I, er, yeah." He sounded none too convincing, which was a shame because he was really trying to convince himself of it.

Xigbar ruffled his hair, making him laugh for the moment.

"Don't go all depressed and junk on me."

"Sorry! I'm not depressed, I was just thinking."

"That's not a good idea for people like you. Let's clean up and get out of here."

"Yeah, I have a long walk ahead of me."

"Oh?" Xigbar looked up from the stack of Chinese food tubs that he'd collected.

"My car broke down."

"Then I'm driving you, dummy."

"Really?" Demyx lit up like a Christmas tree, from the blue green of his eyes to the red on his cheeks.

"Really," Xigbar replied, throwing the garbage in a bin.

"Wow, thanks!" And then Demyx did something that, again, surprised the both of them. He leaned up and gave Xigbar a small kiss on the cheek.

When the blond boy turned away towards the exit, Xigbar made a very rash decision in a split second. He growled and tugged the teen back and thrust his lips onto Demyx's.

* * *

**Okay, now I have some explaining to do about the future. My family and I are taking a trip, and we're leaving this Thursday at midnight. So that leaves only about two updates before I go away for a whole week. Directly after we get back, I'll be both helping my sister move in and getting ready for school. **

**Thus, there will be a painfully long hiatus. (Long as in about two weeks, give or take.) I really wanted to finish this before I left, but now that I think about it, I don't see the end in sight, and that wasn't going to happen. **

**I send my love and puppies and chocolates and flowers and yaoi pr0n to any and all who read this, and supersize that for the reviewers! **


	13. One kiss, two kiss, red fish, blue fish

**Here is a nice long update because I'm going away, and this is my last update until I get back. Depressing, I know. **

**Anyway, I hope this chapter is to your liking. We have bits of Xigbar/Demyx as well as Sora and Riku (you've been waiting for it, and now you've got it!). **

**Enjoy! **

* * *

The car ride home was comfortably silent and yet had the underlying stench of awkwardness. Demyx watched the world go by in the window, occasionally murmuring directions to Xigbar, who stayed overly focused on the road ahead.

Demyx's head was full to bursting with the thoughts of what they'd done. What _Xigbar _had done. It wasn't a bad thing but…he wasn't expecting anything like it. The tiny little ants in his brain screaming "_This is wrong; just look at him!"_ had been squashed early on by more positive thoughts. For the fifth time that night, the teen raised his fingers to his lips. The film reel of their kiss was playing over and over on a very annoying repeat.

_Xigbar's lips suddenly on his, Demyx immediately yielding (to his own surprise), tongues clashing as Xigbar ravished him senseless, as though the older man had been waiting a long time to do such a thing. When he let go, Demyx made a noise of protest, following Xigbar's backstep until the latter was pressed against the counter and once again they were kissing hungrily, Demyx's fingers twisting in Xigbar's hair until his ponytail came loose and dark hair cascaded down the scarred man's shoulders. And then, just at that moment, Xigbar pulled away, pushing past Demyx roughly. And Demyx would have felt very rejected if he hadn't caught the faint blush on Xigbar's face._

When his fingers stopped feeling his lips, they remembered the silk-like texture of Xigbar's hair and how it felt to run them through it. And if he tried hard enough he could still taste the older man in his mouth. The thought made him shiver. Ooh. Xigbar was old enough to drink and Demyx still couldn't legally have sex yet. The age difference had once scared him, but now it just shot thrills through his veins, like how he felt when he was pounding arrows to a fast-paced but immersive song. It felt so _good _to be going that fast, that hard, to something melodic that tore through him. He had half a mind to make Xigbar pull over and have him right then and there.

On the other side of the world, Xigbar was watching the road but not thinking about it, instead dwelling on how soft Demyx's lips and hands were, and how willing the teen had been, flowing along with it as though he wanted it too. It wasn't until Xigbar thought of what he was doing to the kid that he stopped, not wanting to put Demyx in any more bad situations. Like greasy foods, if it tastes good, it's probably bad for you, and he figured it was best not to lead Demyx down that kind of road.

When at last they pulled up to the musician's house, Demyx wasn't sure what to say to the other man. So he hesitated, hand on the door handle, making the situation even more awkward. Just as he was about to give up and leave, Xigbar spoke.

"Sorry about that, kid. Don't know what hit me."

"I-I, well, I mean, you don't have to apologise." _Even if you did start it, meanie! _the stupid mean ants in his head said.

Xigbar's eye rose to his, its neon glow sending shocks through him. "You can't just go around making out with random dudes."

Demyx had to smile at this. "You can if those dudes like you back." With that, he opened the door and slipped out, running up his driveway (past the hulking piece of junk that was his car), and through the back gate.

Xigbar lingered in the driveway for a little longer, watching the patch of darkness where the teen had disappeared. So Demyx didn't think he was being creepy, he pulled away at last, once again seeing the road but not caring about it. He didn't feel like that much of a molester anymore. And even if he was, he couldn't care less. Tomorrow never seemed so welcome.

* * *

Riku looked warily at Demyx, who seemed to be too cheerful for his own good today, mopping the floor and whistling. The silver-haired boy finally had to interrupt when the other teen started to grind dance against the mop handle.

"What are you smoking and why aren't you sharing?" he said in a flat tone.

"The love drug," Demyx replied suggestively, blowing his mop a suave kiss. Riku grinned and leaned against the DDR machine's hand rail, resting his chin on his arms.

"So, who's the lucky arcade machine?"

Demyx stuck out his tongue and answered, "He's not a machine, he's human. Hu-man. You heard of them?"

"Only in books, Demyx. Humans aren't real." He blew a piece of silver from his face, shaking his hips idly. Roxas should have called him by now.

"Don't talk to my employees, Riku," Xigbar reprimanded from the counter, although his heart didn't seem to be in it. In fact, from what Riku could see, Xigbar was in the clouds, staring at Demyx's sexy dancing. The aqua-eyed boy immediately put two and two together and although he didn't say anything, the knowing grin on his face told all. But Demyx didn't notice and neither did Xigbar, for the same reason. Demyx was too busy putting on a show and Xigbar was too busy enjoying it. Ah, well.

At last the welcome ring of his cell phone sounded and he hurriedly flipped open the lid and said "Hello?" maybe a little too quickly.

"Hi Riku," Roxas said.

"Hey Roxas." From all the way on the other side of the arcade, Axel's ears perked up. Someone had said today's keyword.

"Sora's back and he's fine. He's wiped out on my couch right now. You can come see him if you want."

"Yeah! Tell him I'm coming!" He punched the air.

"I will. And Riku?"

"Yes?"

"Don't bring Axel," Roxas murmured darkly. "We'll be seeing you."

"Bye!" Riku hung up and, totally forgetting Roxas's warning, turned to Axel, who was already eagerly by his side, and said, "We're going to Roxas's house."

"Is Roxas gonna be there?" Axel said with the air of an excited puppy that has been locked in the pound for too long.

"I'd imagine; it's his house after all." He could swear he heard Axel going _ohboyohboy! _

Riku drove Axel's car, because the redhead was too busy sticking his head out the window and wagging his tongue at passing cars. Not really, but it's a fun image to think about.

Roxas was waiting for him on the porch, rocking back and forth in an ugly wicker chair. He stood up and smiled at Riku, but the smile fell when he laid eyes on Axel. The thin man was stalking up his driveway like he already owned the place. Riku greeted him and…was that a glint of satisfaction in the blonde's eyes? Hmm.

"Sora's right inside; you can't miss him. He'll probably be moaning and complaining, so good luck." The word 'moaning' had kind of cancelled out the rest of Roxas's sentence, but Riku nodded dumbly and went inside, handing his best friend off to Roxas. Roxas was already formulating a nice speech one might give in sex ed. "Never give someone a hand job, children, because they'll follow you around and hump your leg afterwards."

"Sora?" Riku called, stepping inside the house. It smelled like sauce, which wasn't a bad smell at all. It made the place more homely. The hallway in front of him was wood paneled, and went in two different directions; Roxas's downstairs was a circle. Riku took to the right, which turned out to be the correct path, because soon a spiky-haired blob of blankets greeted him, curled up on a large navy blue couch.

"Mmph," the lump said. Relief shot through his stomach. He really missed seeing the younger teen. When big azure eyes glanced up and caught Riku's aqua ones, Riku realised just how _much_ he missed Sora. A lot. More than a lot. Maybe that's what made his eyes seem so much more vibrant, his hair more adorable, and his skin pleasantly soft-looking. Or maybe Sora had always looked that way and he just never noticed.

"Hey Sora." He knelt down beside the lump. The lump with blue eyes stirred until it became a full-fledged Sora with blue eyes, which were blinking at him happily.

"Riku!"

"You lazy ass, what are you doing bumming around on your best friend's couch?"

"Playing for sympathy as long as I can. Why?" Riku laughed and resisted decking him on the head.

"You'd better be alright tomorrow."

"Why, what's tomorrow?"

"You've got more training. School starts in two weeks; you want to be ready to face the big bad world by then, don't you?"

Sora sulked and leaned against the pillows. "Ugh, don't remind me about school. And training…" He groaned.

"Stop being lazy. You've wasted enough time in bed, mental patient. You're coming to dance tomorrow whether you like it or not."

"You gonna make me?" the brunet challenged.

"I'll send Axel and Roxas in here all day and chain you down so you have to watch them make out until you go crazy."

"Nooo!" Sora cried, ducking back under the blankets. "You win." Riku had a feeling he was never losing.

"That's what I thought."

"Hey, you know what?"

"Hmm?"

"I saw arrows the whole time I was unconscious."

"That's how you know it's working!" Riku beamed. Sora was too cute when he was like this.

After a moment of comfortable silence Sora said, "Wanna stay here and watch some movies? I don't feel like getting up and I think Roxas left."

"What's his mom going to think when she walks in to find her son nowhere in sight and a strange boy with her son's best friend instead?"

"Aw, his mom loves me. Besides, it's only twelve. We could watch two movies and leave before she gets back."

"Well, alright. If you put it that way." Sora cheered and made space for Riku up on the couch.

"I'm glad you're here, Riku."

* * *

"You want me to do what why?" Demyx asked. Riku looked at him pleadingly.

"You know what I said."

"Well yeah but…why?"

"Please!" Demyx smiled faintly.

"I guess, if it's for a good cause."

"You won't be sorry!"

"Oh really?" the teen asked, putting a hand on his hip. "How are you going to pay me back?"

"I'll…oh, I don't know. You have my undying gratitude."

"Well, here you go then." Demyx tossed him a set of keys that jingled heavily in his pocket. "But don't tell Xigbar I gave in without a fight, okay?"

"You'll have to distract him," the silver-haired boy said with a wink. The other teen smirked before going back to work.

The only thing this plan needed was Sora.

* * *

"I can see that being away so long and conking yourself on the head hasn't improved your skills," Riku observed. Sora seethed.

"I'm trying, okay!"

"And I'm kidding."

Sora wiped the sweat from his face, looking around at Arcanum's interior for the first time in a few hours. "Riku, where is everyone?"

"Oh, I'd imagine it's closing time."

"Are you serious! Then we've got to go!" The brunet leapt off the platform, but Riku hand caught him. He shook his head.

"We don't have to go anywhere."

"W-what?" In the distance, they could hear the other stores shutting their heavy metals screens. And now that Sora thought about it, he hadn't seen Demyx or Xigbar in a long time.

"Demyx gave me the keys to the place. I'm closing up shop tonight."

"But you don't work here!" Sora pouted, crossing his arms. He was highly confused. He was also slightly scared; the mall was darker than he'd ever seen it.

"I know, dummy. But I thought that since you've been gone so long, it'd be best to keep up training as long as possible, and without other people distracting you. So it's just you and me until you collapse."

"That's not fair! I just got out of the hospital!"

"Hmm, don't care." Riku smirked, pushing the buttons on the machine a few times to select a new song for his apprentice. He stopped on _B4U. _"Do this and you can take a break." In truth, the older teen was just stalling for time. He grew unsure of himself as he watched Sora sweat his way through the song, intense and focused, but obviously miffed. Riku smiled at his pupil's progress; Sora was pounding out a song on Heavy mode.

When he finished, Sora looked at him expectantly. "Well?"

"That was very good, Sora," Riku nearly purred, stepping towards the brunet. Sora leaned against the hand rail, panting.

"Good. It better have been."

Riku was still getting closer, and Sora felt his nerves spike. The feeling doubled, no, tripled, when Riku didn't stop until he was directly in front of the younger boy. And then all the alarms started going off when Riku put his hands on either side of Sora's skinny body, pinning him against the arm rail.

"R-Riku!"

"Sora?" Those aqua eyes were shining brighter than a sunlit ocean.

"What's going—"

He didn't get to finish, because Riku shushed him and leaned in so far that Sora felt his own breath bouncing off Riku's pale cheeks. Then Riku boldly closed the distance between them, pressing his lips gently to Sora's, waiting for rejection that never came. So he pushed further until Sora opened his mouth. Riku proceeded with utmost caution, as though he was handling nitroglycerin.

Sora wasn't sure what was going on within him. He knew that he wanted it, but he was unsure of why Riku, of all people, was initiating this. Still, a warmth grew in his stomach, a warmth that quickly sparked and flamed upon contact with Riku's careful tongue, working Sora's own until the brunet sighed happily and wrapped his arms loosely around Riku's neck, pulling him down into their kiss.

Sora never thought his first kiss would be with a gorgeous, silver-haired boy against a DDR machine.

* * *

**And with that, my good people, I leave thee. See you in a week or two! I'll miss you all!**


	14. Meanwhile, Back At The Ranch

**I have absolutely no good excuse for taking over a month to update. I'm really sorry. I'll try a few excuses though. Let's see…after I got back from my trip I had to unpack, get ready for school, and chill out. Then school started, which required at least two weeks to get used to. Because typing is like work, I avoided it, craving as much fun as possible.**

**So school sucked away my life and some other bad things happened. A girl at my school died and I got sick. **

**But here I am! I got a small influx of reviews and felt kind of guilty, so I typed this up and here you go!**

**Enjoy! **

**-----**

There is an amazing rushing feeling one gets when doing something seamless, something right. Whether it's belting out a song perfectly or swinging your hips in flawless, unstoppable beat to a song or owning so much at a game that you can't even believe how good you are, the feeling creates a swell of pride and power. There are moments when one accomplishes something much more easily than they expected, like nervously stepping into a boss fight only to win two minutes later by some unexplainable force.

All these examples bled into one within Riku. He'd done and said the right thing at the right time in the right place. Mission accomplished times one thousand. Sweet, bouncy little Sora gave him a high, and said drug was melting under his touches and even giving his own.

The DDR machine, oblivious to their kissing, went on with its default beats, the loud and annoying clips it plays for attention when it isn't getting any. What a whore, considering it had gotten plenty of attention the last few weeks.

When Riku's fingers were numb from gripping the hand bar and he was positive Sora wasn't going to run away, they strayed into cinnamon locks and a soft cheek, rubbing the pad of a thumb over the soft skin while Sora subconsciously rocked to the machine's erratic beats, pulsing their tongues in time.

Contrary to popular belief, people rarely ever taste like any pleasant food. They taste like _people. _But Sora didn't have to taste anything to feel it, because to him Riku _felt _like darkness and mist and glowsticks and the crash of an aqua sea against navy shores. Riku tasted like the treasure hunt he'd been on since he saw the silver-haired boy dancing, wondering what it felt like for muscles to work like that, longing for a beat and a dance floor, even if the floor was only four arrows that glowed momentarily when you touched them.

Riku's fingers were like feet on the arrows, pushing into his face and neck, leaving behind heat that he wished could begin to shine pink and blue. And there was a fifth arrow, the space between their hips, and he found himself latching on to Riku's hip bones and pulling them towards him so it was more like a dance. His world shrunk into a dark pinpoint: the mouth hooked on his, until it fell away and reattached onto the sun-kissed skin of his neck, pulling, nipping, and teasing like Sora was spiced meat, but meat no one had bothered to kill before eating, as strained sounds were spilling from his lips.

"Nngh…"

The vague thought crossed his mind that if he ever had an opportunity to go to a rave with Riku, he would take it immediately.

"Sora, we have to stop."

"No." The simple answer was pleading. _Don't stop this. _There were patterns bursting behind his eyelids that he knew would fade if he opened his eyes, but he had to. Riku's were half-lidded, aqua smoldering. He felt luminous.

But the feeling, though shattered like a piece of blazing glass, lingered. There was skin on skin and buzzing in his lips.

Riku 'hmm'd in a '_you see? We had to stop' _sort of way. Riku knows best.

"You kissed me."

"Thanks for noticing," Riku replied, friendly, letting a silky piece of Sora's hair fall from his fingertips. "Is that a problem?"

Sora shook his head numbly, eyes wide open. No it was certainly _not _a problem. "You did all this just so…"

"Yup. Think of it as a reward for dancing so well." Sora knew he would be dancing a lot more often if this was the reward.

Was this how Roxas felt when he was with Axel?

"You'd better go home and get some rest. You'll need it for tomorrow." Tomorrow?

"DDR practise?" Sora asked, following Riku to the door dreamily. Think floating Sora with bubbly little hearts around his head.

Riku locked up the back door and checked it with one last, hard jerk. "Nope," he said with a grin. "I have other plans."

**--------**

School would be starting very soon, as Roxas reminded Axel. The tall redhead groaned and looked up at the blond with disdain. Roxas's knees shifted under his head as the younger of the two said, "I don't want to be reminded of it either but it's coming and there's nothing we can do."

"Mph."

Axel's eyes drooped in his sleepiness. (His body's only defense against the mention of school was to fall asleep.) Roxas jerked him awake with a rough grope.

"Whoa boy!"

"Just listen for a second! We've got a week and a half from today, and we're going to cram as much junk in that week as possible, which means no more watching TV at my house." There is no time like summer to make you feel guilty about watching TV. You know you should be outside having fun but…

"Alright, then I'll—"

"No watching TV at your house either." Axel's comfy pillow suddenly stood up and his head collided with the soft but not soft enough sofa. He groaned again and stretched out his impossibly long limbs. Roxas was pacing when he lifted his head, and he followed the motion with his eyes.

"I know there are Labour Day fireworks next Monday, and that's a week from now. So we'll be doing that."

"Who's 'we'?"

"All of us," Roxas answered condescendingly, because it should have been obvious. "We can even take Xigbar and Demyx."

"Demyx, yes. But Xigbar…?" The last person Axel wanted to spend recreational time with was that man. He was downright scary and now that Demyx was added to the mix Xigbar was also pretty much a pedophile, or maybe that was giving Demyx too little credit; after all, Demyx _was _eighteen and he may have been fun but he wasn't simple-minded. But he digressed.

"Xigbar's been doing a lot of cool stuff for us lately."

"Yeah…" The phone suddenly rang, cutting Axel short. Roxas darted off, his stocking feet sliding along the linoleum on his kitchen floor and he grabbed the phone off its hook as he slid past. While the blond made small talk with whoever was on the line Axel rolled off the couch and went in the same direction (sans sock/floor action) and leaned against the counter behind Roxas. When the latter rested against it, Axel leaned forward enough to hear what the voice in the phone was saying.

"I know mom definitely wouldn't let me or you go, but if we cover for each other it should be fine. If anyone asks we can just say Xigbar's our guardian."

"It's not like we're going to get drunk or anything," Roxas replied, rolling his eyes and effectively making Axel more interested in the conversation than he was before. "Party," Roxas murmured to him, cupping the phone in his hand. _Oh_, the redhead mouthed.

"And how did you find out about this thing?"

Axel didn't catch the reply but he heard Riku's name and the word "dude". It was then that he noticed Roxas's neck was bare and unprotected, its owner distracted, so he nibbled on it a bit, making Roxas's start and shudder. Besides this initial reaction Roxas ignored it, but Axel was more persistent than that. Much, much more persistent.

A tongue licked the shell of Roxas's ear and there was an exhale of hot breath. As if that wasn't enough, that was when the dirty talk began.

"I should just take you right here," Axel whispered. "Right now, while you're on the phone."

Ooh, ah. This was making Roxas very hot and bothered and he mentally willed Sora to shut up and hang up. So he did the next best thing—lied.

"Sora, I left a thing in the thing. In the oven! Gotta go. I'll get back to you on the party thing." There was a minor squeak of protest before the line faded into a dial tone, which was shut off violently when Roxas tossed the phone over his shoulder, grabbed Axel by the collar, and pushed their lips together, hungrily devouring the insides of his boyfriend's mouth.

"Don't you dare do that to me again," he hissed lustily. He tugged Axel so hard that the redhead had no choice but to climb on top of the counter. Roxas pulled him by his hips and even though Axel was much taller than Roxas (especially while sitting atop a counter) the older boy was more than willing to bend down and keep tying knots in the string of kisses passing between them. Roxas's warm body was between his legs, his tummy pressing into Axel's crotch. It was soon replaced with a hand, massaging in the way only Roxas could. He would only let Roxas do this from now on.

He wasn't exactly thinking about it (heaven knows any trains of thought had been stopped for the time being) but every time he and Roxas had gotten down and dirty, Roxas was the dominating one. In public the boy was an island, all stern brows and curt replies. Alone with the skinny, redheaded object of his desire, the blond took on a new persona, becoming a pent-up little sex god in a boy's body, hands teasing until Axel couldn't take it anymore, teasing to the point where Axel had to take a dominant position to get any sort of release.

And they hadn't even had real sex yet.

That was the amazing part of the relationship; Axel wanted to tell his friends, especially Riku, "Sex with Roxas is the best thing ever." But it wasn't sex, it was just playtime. Hardly innocent but undoubtedly playful kisses, touches, orgasms.

It wasn't going to reach that heavenly point today on Roxas's kitchen counter. Today was the day Sora wanted to show off his DDR skills and had also mentioned an end of summer party that Roxas was interested in, so it was in everyone but Axel's favour for them to show up to Arcanum and get the scoop.

While Axel drove the Jeep to the mall, he complained loudly and tirelessly about how he hated driving with a hard-on and Roxas told him that maybe he would do Axel a favour, right there in the car, if the redhead would shut up and drive. Axel called him a liar, Roxas groped him roughly, and finally Axel quieted, hoping for his sexual reward. A reward which, may it be noted, never came.

The mall was bustling with customers who were likely shopping for school clothes and supplies. Children were using the very last of their pixie stick energy to bother their mothers, who were wishing that school would start the very next day and get these bundles of joy out of their faces. Teens looked half anxious and half depressed (and perhaps a fourth happy, if you disregard the fact that this makes more than one whole. The author admits a deep hatred for math), comparing clothes and frowning about how the peach shirt definitely makes them look fat compared to the mauve one.

The sight that greeted them inside the arcade was both a different one from the usual and rather familiar; Xigbar had moved some of the machines around for the fall season (it made no sense, but people like variety) and Axel noted where all his favourite games were located. It'd been a while since he'd actually played a hardcore game. Now that Roxas was around, there were different hardcore things to be wanting.

The familiar aspect of the view was Demyx, swaying his hips with an MP3 player tucked into his pants and apparently his boxers as well, as the light blue plaid band of them stuck out. He moved as one who is not only used to body movement but very aware of it, always conscious of how they are positioned and how it looks, but knowing enough of it that it doesn't take effort for them to keep track of it.

Demyx gave them a smile and wave and a rude comment about the hickey on Axel's neck (a matching one was on Roxas but in a naughty place we won't name). He was sweeping the floor, as it was his chore, and please ignore the fact that this sentence rhymes a lot.

At the counter was a gloomy Xigbar, staring at the unaware Demyx with a look of pure devotion and frustration.

"I sense some _ten_sion!" Axel declared, resting an elbow on the counter and his chin in his hand. He cast a sidelong glance to the ruffled employee. "Wanna talk about it?"

Roxas, in the meantime, bounded off to see Sora. Sweaty and excited Sora who was about to have a heart attack from the strain of exercise but looked as though it was the most blissful way to hurt.

"Not with you, no," Xigbar gruffly replied. He flicked the string of his eye patch in agitation.

"Just go for it, man. You want it; it's in your sights. All you gotta do is go out there and claim it," Axel explained with a smooth movement of his hand (picture the 'good to go' gesture from Taco Bell). There was a sigh from the older man that told Axel exactly what he knew: he was right. Xigbar was suffering from a familiar thing called low self-confidence. Sometimes he felt ugly, like it was impossible to even want to look at someone so battle-scarred as he, and sometimes he thought he was desirable for the same reason. But Demyx was a young, soft boy with blue eyes and feather-soft hair and an attitude so lax it could give turtles a run for their money. And Xigbar was a beaten in old bat suffering from a Lolita complex. Only Demyx wasn't twelve, and he wasn't a girl.

Roxas, at the DDR machine, was surprised that there was no Riku in sight. Since he and Sora had met Axel and Riku, it was rare for him to see the brunet without a splash of silver by his side. It was obvious to the blond that Riku thought Sora was the most wonderful thing to walk the earth (Roxas had felt that way himself once upon a time until he grew out of it and decided best friends was better) and it was weird that he wouldn't be taking this opportunity to 'school' Sora. Even more obvious that Riku's affection was the fact that a lot of his teachings were useful only for allowing him to touch the brunet boy without complication.

Then again, Sora probably only stuck around _for _the lessons because Riku paid so much physical and otherwise attention to him.

Once more again, Roxas was digging far too deep into it. When Axel finally returned to his side, a wry grin on his face, Roxas made certain to quickly wrap an arm around his boyfriend's waist and ignore Axel's surprised glance. It felt good to have someone to love.

**------**

**Was that good for you? It was definitely good for me. I can't guarantee updates every night like I used to do, but I will try my best! Please, PLEASE, bug me if I don't update for longer than four or five days. Seriously. My AIM screen name is poisonedtea13. Just send me an IM saying "YOU GET OFF YOUR LAZY ASS AND UPDATE, HOBAG." **

**:D **

**And omg, why isn't the cool break line thing working? D:**


	15. Tease

**Hi! **

**There is a bit of smex later in this chapter. Ooh la la. Well, not exactly sex sex but you'll get what I mean.**

**Normal disclaimers apply! (Although I'd like to see someone who actually claims they own Kingdom Hearts. Never going to happen, I think.) **

**Aw, yay! The break thing works again!**

* * *

For the players of DDR, it is known that magical things happen when you are engaged in a song. Sora was newly experiencing this, gaining his addiction, whereas Riku had been desiring his fix for nearly a year and a half now. The feeling, as with anything else, was one of utmost accomplishment. This has already been discussed.

But there is just something about it. Like listening to someone hit every note perfectly in a song, Dance Dance Revolution can go so perfectly it makes one sigh in content. Each arrow is hit flawlessly, the brain flickering faster than the eyes and feet can follow, sometimes moving your body like a puppet in order to hit each step. Play the game long enough, and one finds they don't have to think about what they're doing. They just _do _it. The only challenge is keeping your lungs and muscles in one piece.

People have natural functions, such as breathing and blinking and heart rate. These are basic things we do without thinking about. But if DDR hypnotizes the brain, the dance, the song, becomes the natural function, overriding breathing. Instead of simply breathing, one must _think_ about breathing, _force _themselves to breathe.

Sora even had to force himself to blink.

He'd memorised every aspect of his game: the first thing to hurt would be his left leg and when that ended it was stomach cramps from lack of air, and finally, after more than an hour of nonstop playing, the nausea and foot pain would set in, making him feel like he was dancing on the very bones of his feet.

He loved it.

The click of the metal arrows, the cool post to lean against, and even the annoying announcer (who randomly screams "Noo!" even if the game is going well) made it worthwhile.

And if the songs weren't pumping up his adrenaline, the memories of what had happened on that machine would. There was that thought at the back of his head, whenever he touched the post. A mental picture of him and Riku, a picture with sound and feeling. It was a pleasurable spot of sugar for him which his mind begged him to return to if he happened to think about it in just the slightest way.

Where was Riku…?

"Show me your stuff!" cried Demyx with a wry, devilish grin. Axel leaned down into Roxas's ear and whispered the same thing to his young charge, who promptly elbowed him in the stomach and crossed to the other side of the machine, Sora's right, and watched his best friend with slightly smoldering but expecting eyes.

"If you learned anything you wouldn't need Riku," he said. "Just dance, Sora."

"I don't just need Riku for…" Sora faded out. He started the statement so quietly to begin with that by the time he finished it was only a whisper in his head.

"Look," said Demyx. Ca-ching, coins fell into the machine. "Pick your favourite songs, your best ones, and do them for us."

"My favourites, huh?" That sounded nice. His favourites. There were a few Heavy songs he had up his sleeve, but he'd really like to impress Riku with them. Ah, well.

Encouraging smiles highlighted the faces of the boys brought together as they watched one of their youngest nervously preparing for his song, having picked one.

"_Are you ready?" _asked the announcer.

"I sure hope so," Sora replied drearily.

This was the last week of summer. If he didn't have this nailed, he was doomed for another year beginning in obscurity. And summer, being at its end, was ripe to be picked and overenjoyed. All across the country citizens would be cramming as much as was humanly possible into this week. And even though he could still theoretically keep practising, Sora felt like this was the accumulation of it all and if he failed now he wouldn't have the will to keep going.

Axel and Riku long ago learned to beat this demon. To be truly good at games you must never give up until the game gets tiring. If the boss kills you, do it again. If he kills you again, do it _again. _Do it again and again until you win, because otherwise you'll waste time thinking that you should be playing but you are so put off by that stupid boss fight. That boss is pixels, the arrows are pixels, and it's all just relative. Someone in the world can pull off the hardest songs. You should never expect to beat him, but you have to try and be like him.

Was that really all he learned this summer? No. The summer wasn't over, and though the outside temperature was cooling, this odd relationship with Riku was the polar opposite, and there was still so very much to learn.

The beats of a song named _.59 _began to sound. It was the first song Sora learned to master on Heavy simply because it came first in the catalogue's alphabet, its first character being a decimal. The 'sandwich' steps, as Riku called them, steps where there would be, for example, a right step in between two up steps at rapid pace, came easily, and thus he darted about the four corners of the pad, sometimes missing the arrows through the fault of bad aim.

It went well. The DDR machine judges harshly compared to the home versions, and it gave him a C, which was fantastic for something on the machine.

Sora's friends burst into applause, and Demyx gave a loud catcall.

The other two songs went much the same (_Ecstasy _and _B4U)_, though there was a part near the end of _Ecstasy _that he messed up on and got an E, but everyone, especially Demyx, knew that the grade wasn't directly reflective of the ability or how the song went.

When he was finished he spoke to Roxas about the party Riku had told him about while the blond listened intently. Riku had described is as a school dance only better, something the venue was calling a 'teen night'. And instead of playing popular (and generally sucky) tunes, they would play things you could dance to, techno instead of pop, trance instead of R&B. Sora wasn't so sure he'd be able to dance on a real dance floor, but Roxas and Axel seemed excited about the concept. In fact, Axel began swinging his hips and twirling his fingers in imitation glowsticking. The hand that was not engaged in this awful impression was extended to Roxas, who took it with a sincere giggle, much to everyone present's surprise.

While the two lovers danced around and attracted attention Sora splashed some water on his face, then ran his fingers through the water and into his hair. He was more than a little bummed out.

He just couldn't believe that Riku'd spent weeks teaching him only to bail out on the last day of training. Sora would be practising DDR anymore; he'd be playing it. It was doubtful that Riku would never be in his presence again while playing (just because the lessons stopped didn't mean they had to stop playing together), but it was the last day of the teacher and student relationship.

But suddenly, just as he was about to leave, a hand, slender and pale, reached from the bathroom and pulled him in. The sight that greeted this surprise was a head of glossy silver hair and glinting aqua eyes so obviously amused that they'd captured their prey, and this time the prey was too hot and tired to put up a fight.

"Riku…!" _Slam_, he made friends with the wall and even better friends with the pair of hips surging against his, bony but delicious.

"Do you know how sexy you are when you dance?" Riku murmured huskily. Sora mewled and responded to the playfully brutal statement and let out a near purr when Riku continued with, "It makes me want to do things to you."

_Riku is very, very horny_, thought Sora in a mix of giggles and fear. Airy cologne reached his nose—Riku's. Those commercials with the girls ganging up on good-smelling guys were not lying; however in this case it was not a gaggle of girls, it was Sora. And he was the one being ganged up on, if Riku could count as a gang.

His hands certainly did, traveling in a thousand places at once, over a skinny hip, dipping beneath his shirt for just a second. Adrenaline pumped through him knowing that anyone could walk in at any moment and see this, two boys heatedly making out against the tiles, the clearly dominant one sliding to the submissive brunet's back and turning him around, pressing them stomach to back. Sora felt Riku's growing hardness behind him and, in a rare show of Sora's sexuality, he ground back.

If playing a good game of DDR led to perilous bathroom sex, Sora would be playing it every single day until he died.

Riku's mind was a whirr but he ignored it, letting thoughts like _wanted to do this for a long time _and _sweaty, delicious, cute_ float by his conscious and be replaced by not words but feelings, such as the coarse fabric of his blue-eyed companion's jean shorts and the pinpoint of cold metal, the button. Having Sora's back to him made it easy to slide the zipper down.

Beneath red plaid boxers lay the prize, the forbidden fruit cute kids like Sora weren't allowed to have—an erection, the embarrassing but sexy and unwanted gift sent by hormones. Riku's own erection was a sexy feeling; knowing Sora was also aroused made it better times one thousand million. _I did this, _he thought. _I'm doing this to Sora. _

Adorable, morally perfect, naïve. Riku had to have it.

Ah, there it was, the prize, virgin to other hands and reacting accordingly. Its owner, poor Sora, bit his plump lip back and hissed, cramming his eyes shut. Riku was stroking him as if he was stroking himself and it felt more like masturbation than relation, except so much more thrilling because his fingers weren't his own this time, they belonged to a gorgeous silver-haired boy who wanted him and…

Weeks of growing sexual tension and affection manifested themselves in the speed of Riku's generous hand. Sora paid that hand back as best he could by rubbing Riku's erection with his backside, grinding down when he was struck particularly.

There the feeling was, the feeling that was far off but would most definitely happen, the wonderful threat of orgasm.

And there it went in a horrible way—Riku released him just at that moment and threw himself to the wall adjacent to the sinks. Sora sunk back and faced him, eyes half-lidded but angry, begging.

"Finish it, Sora," Riku said, panting. Sora was writhing against the wall, wanting it so badly, and stupidly believing Riku was the only one who would get that done. But the older boy wanted to see him suffer, wanted the voyeur show of watching the cute boy come. "Do it, go there for me."

Desperately Sora took a hold of himself confidently, left wrist thrown to the wall by his face as Riku watched, stricken with lust.

Riku did not want to explain why he left Sora to do this himself. Part of him said not here, not in some grimy bathroom. If you're going to bring the kid to orgasm it had better be special. The hornier part of him said it was because it would be fun and torturous. Riku was secretly always a sadist.

The screams had to be bitten back but it was not hard. Sora crunched all the pleasure inside him as he came violently, knowing he could very well have zipped up his pants and left after Riku abandoned him, but at the time it didn't seem like a possibility.

He slumped against the wall, bathing in afterglow, until gentle fingers covered in toilet paper wiped his semen away and soft lips brought his into a kiss.

"Are you alright?" he asked the brunet in a hushed tone.

Sora then uttered a statement he meant right down to its curse word: "You are such a _goddamn _tease."

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**Eheheh, yeah. Sorry. **

**Review Replies!**

**Number VIII – Axel – You are the one who corrected me on 'brunette'. Actually, the word brunette applies to girls and the internet and otherwise boy version of it is brunet. Just like how I use blond for guys and blonde for girls. Microsoft Word doesn't seem to have a problem with it either. Yay loopholes:D **

**Sorry this chapter was kind of short. The next one will involve a _lot _of Xig/Dem, because it's about time something happens with those two. **


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